


Procession

by DragonWannabe



Series: Acceptance [3]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Ableism, Angst, Child Abandonment, Childhood Trauma, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, Misunderstandings, My OC will have a happy loving family alright, Original Blind Character, Soft!Lin, Tenzin is in full dad mode, The relationships are not the focus here, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 34,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26940112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonWannabe/pseuds/DragonWannabe
Summary: It wasn’t common for parents to bring young children to the island. It certainly wasn’t common for a young child’s parents to abandon their children on the island.It was unheard of that a young, blind child was abandoned on the island.Update11/18/2020: Some art of Nomi!
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Kya II, Pema/Tenzin
Series: Acceptance [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953949
Comments: 50
Kudos: 181





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is set 1yr after _Enough_ and I didn’t want to make this a chaptered work, but it’s starting to crash my Notes app on my phone since it’s so long so I’m going to split it into two chapters. I have 3 exams next week so I’d expect an update 2ish weeks from now. I’m not planning on there being more than one additional chapter but we’ll see. 
> 
> This is based on a [ tweet thread](https://twitter.com/lilyliv3rs/status/1313190915108933633?s=21) that I made, which does have some spoilers for it. 
> 
> If there’s anything insensitive that I’ve written, please tell me so I can correct it! Or any other suggestions on being a better writer/any typos.

After the first few years, it wasn’t so common for airbenders to just randomly show up at the temples. It certainly wasn’t common for parents to bring young children to the island— most wished to wait until their kids were older before even attempting to confront their air bending. 

Ikki and Meelo welcomed the small family to the island, and explained the procedures for joining as an acolyte or as an air bending student. The parents nodded in understanding, and the mother held tight to the little girl that followed her around. Hair hung in her face, and Ikki wondered why she let her hair hang like that in front of her face and how she wasn’t bothered by it. The girl was clumsy, and would have tripped over nothing had she not held her mom’s hand. 

“Sorry, Nomi is just really shy.” her mom explained, smiling. Ikki couldn’t understand, but Rohan was always nervous around new people too, and she figured that eventually Nomi would come out of her shell. 

At the end of their tour, the family was invited to spend the night in the guest quarters of the temple. Many acolytes mentioned wishing there was a test period that first night, before they committed and Tenzin had taken their criticisms into account. He wanted people to properly enjoy his culture and help preserve it, and was willing to do whatever it took to meet that goal.

The family all stayed in one room, and they profusely thanked the young teenager for being so generous a guide. Ikki told them that someone would come wake them in the morning for them to discuss their future, and the parents nodded in understanding.

The next morning, an acolyte went to fetch the family, but when they knocked and received no answer, they pushed open the door. Jun was horrified to see no parents, just a sleeping child who couldn’t be more than eight years old, and a note addressed to Master Tenzin’s family. He hoped it wasn’t what he thought it was, even though he couldn’t think of an alternate explanation.

The young man took the note and quietly shut the door, hurrying off to find someone else. He wasn’t prepared for this. When he found Ren, another acolyte, he asked her to keep an eye on their guests, trying not to seem stressed. She agreed with a confused look on her face and Jun went to Master Tenzin’s office. The door was shut, and Jun hoped that he was inside instead of mediating on the island somewhere.

A quiet, “Come in.” was met with relief from Jun as he opened the door. Tenzin was still working on whatever he had been before Jun interrupted. 

“Master Tenzin, I, uh, I think we have a problem.” Jun started, fishing the envelope from his robes. 

Concerned, Tenzin lifted his eyes from his work, “What is it, Jun? Is anyone hurt?”

“No! Or, I don’t think so? The family that was here yesterday? I went to wake them this morning, but didn’t receive an answer. So I opened the door, but the only one inside was the child. They left this envelope, and it’s addressed to your family.” Jun handed him the envelop. 

Gingerly, Tenzin took the envelope, checking it for any suspicious mechanisms before opening. He unfolded the singular piece of paper, and started reading. Jun watched with horror as Tenzin’s eyes watered, and knew his initial suspicions were likely correct— the child had been left behind. 

Tenzin rubbed his face, “Is the child alone now?” 

Jun shook his head. “I asked Ren to keep an eye on the door, but didn’t tell her why.” 

The airbender nodded. “Go check on them. I’m going to find my wife and we’ll discuss what to do next. Don’t tell anyone what has happened.” 

The child would certainly find a safe home, but under who’s care was yet to be determined.

——

Tenzin was disturbed at the letter in his hands as he went to find Pema. 

_Master Tenzin,_

_Our daughter, Nomi, was born blind, and exhibited the signs of an airbender a year ago. We have tried to manage both difficulties, but are unable to do so._

_It is with great regret that we must leave her here, where she will not pose a danger to anyone and can be provided for. We cannot continue to support her with her conditions._

_Nomi is seven years old, and her favorite thing to do is make up stories. She likes dumplings and feeling the grass on her feet._

_We love our daughter, but know that her life will be better if we were not in it. Please tell her we love her._

First rage filled him, that a parent could so easily leave behind their child. That they considered their daughter a burden, for something she had been born with. 

Then sadness at the idea of trying to explain to the girl, Nomi, that her parents had abandoned her. After talking with Pema, he would call Lin at the Police Department and file a report for abandonment. It was possible that they would be able to find the parents before they fled the city, but it was more important now to help the child they left behind. 

Finally, determination that this girl wouldn’t feel alone. Part of air nomad culture was accepting all, no matter the circumstances of one’s birth or life. Tenzin resolved to provide the best care and environment for this child. 

Distracted, he walked right into Pema as she rounded a corner. A startled squeak escaped her, and Tenzin gripped her shoulders to catch himself. 

“Pema, I was looking for you.” Tenzin said urgently. 

“Is something wrong?” She reached up to grasp his hand. 

“No. Yes.” He handed her the letter and watched as she read it. He saw the same emotions splay over her face that he himself had worked through, and she finally settled on being concerned. 

“We have to go talk to her!”

“Yes. Do you think she knew of their plan?” 

“Does it really matter? They’re gone now.” He could only think that knowing would have been more hurtful, but it meant she might have agreed to it. The disappearance in the middle of the night and the note did not indicate that she had willingly done so.

The two of them made their way to the guest quarters, decided on a course of action. Tenzin knew the child would be upset, but he resolved to look towards the future and the possibilities for this girl now that she was here. 

Jun was standing outside the door. “I haven’t heard anything from inside the room, and I don’t know if she’s woken up or not. I didn’t want to disturb her or distress her.” he explained the situation nervously. 

“Yes, that was probably for the best. Can you get something from the kitchen for her to eat when she wakes?” Tenzin asked. 

Jun nodded and walked away. Tenzin knocked on the door, and heard a quiet, “My momma isn’t here right now, and I’m not supposed to open the door to strangers.”

“Nomi, my name is Tenzin, and I live on the island you visited yesterday. My wife, Pema, is with me. Do you mind if we come in?” Tenzin spoke through the door. 

There was silence, then a repeated “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.” but it was much more hesitant this time.

“But you know who we are, so we’re no longer strangers. And your parents thought it was safe enough for you to stay the night here.” Pema tried. Jun arrived with a plate of finger foods, which Pema accepted. “We have some food if you’re hungry.” 

Tenzin dismissed Jun, allowing him to return to his usual duties. The older couple turned their attention back to the door.

They waited for a response, and a few minutes passed. Eventually, they heard the knob shift on the other side of the door, and the door opened, revealing a tiny girl, hair falling haphazardly around her face, clothed in a simple dress. “I— I don’t know where Momma or Daddy is, right now.”

“May we come in?” Pema asked. Both her and Tenzin knew that it was important to not trample Nomi’s decision making as she adjusted to her situation. 

Her face screwed up in deliberation, thinking. Finally she nodded and carefully walked back to her blanket on the floor, a small stuffed badgermole the only thing on the blanket, before sitting down. Tenzin and Pema followed her into the room. Pema placed the plate in front of the child, and watched her grope around for it before pulling it into her lap. She felt across to see what was on the plate before taking a small wrap and popping it into her mouth. She chewed appreciatively. 

“Do you know why you and your parents visited us here?” Tenzin started. If the girl didn’t know, it would make the process easier.

“Momma said that the people here are like me. The can make the air go ‘woosh’.” she waved her hands around to emphasize her point, and a small breeze swept the room. The girl really was an airbender then. She was only one or so when Harmonic Convergence happened, but bending abilities usually appeared when children were five or six. Meelo had displayed signs of being a bender unusually early, much to Pema’s trouble. 

“Yes. Myself and my family are all airbenders like you.” Tenzin explained. “I believe your parents wanted us to help teach you how to use your bending.” 

“Did you talk to them? The nice lady yesterday said they’d wake us up early, and when I got up Momma and Daddy were gone.” Nomi stopped and pouted. “When are they going to be back? I miss them.”

Tenzin and Pema looked at each other, dread in their hearts. Pema tried first. 

“Sweetheart, we couldn’t find your parents this morning.” Pema tried to be gentle, but she couldn’t think of a way to tell the child in front of her without crushing her spirit. 

“Did you look everywhere for them? Momma never leaves me alone for very long.” Nomi insisted. 

“Nomi, your parents left us a note saying they wished for you to live with us.” Tenzin tried to be more direct. 

She shook her head. “That’s not true. You’re a liar!”

Tenzin said nothing, watching the child in front of him rationalize his words as lies. “You’re a liar! Momma wouldn’t do that! Daddy wouldn’t leave me alone!” Fat tears rolled down her cheeks. Pema reached over to hold her hand, and no sooner had her fingers graced Nomi’s, she was thrown back from a gust of wind, hitting the wall with a thud, crying out in sharper. The plate flew from her lap, shattering against the wall, food falling everywhere. The blanket ruffled and the badgermole went flying. Even Tenzin was pushed a couple of inches back before dispersing the air in front of him. He turned to his wife, concerned, and she brushed him off.

“Don’t touch me!” She shouted, scrambling back until she hit the bed frame. “I won’t let you tell me lies and hurt me!”

“Nomi, we do not want to hurt you, and we are not lying to you. We are going to do everything in our power to find your parents. I am going to call a friend of mine and see if she can help us find your parents.” Tenzin tried to find the calm he had when dealing with his own children’s tantrums, but none of them had actually hurt Pema. He was starting to understand the reasoning as to why her parents made the decision to abandon her, but why they didn’t just ask to live on the island? Certainly, they would have never demanded they separate, not with how young she was or her blindness. There was room here and at the other temples for all three.

He looked into her eyes and was reminded that the letter explicitly stated that they couldn’t handle two burdens, that it wasn’t just the bending but also the blindness that factored into their decision. He hoped Lin could find them and bring them to justice for doing such a heartless act.

“My friend, she’s the Chief of Police, and if anyone can find your parents it will be her.” Tenzin hoped that her parents were the type to say that Nomi should trust the police. 

“I don’t believe you!” She cried. 

“I understand that right now is difficult, and I’m not going to try and force you to trust me. I can only hope that I can prove it to you with my actions.” 

“Go away! I want my Momma!” she groped around for her badgermole, but it lay several feet away from her outburst. 

Unwilling to watch her struggle, Tenzin offered, “Do you want me to hand you your stuffed animal? It got blown rather far.” 

She whispered, “Yes.” reaching out her hand, and Tenzin slowly grabbed her toy before offering it to her. For years his movements had been close to silent and now he consciously tried to make noise, absently humming and letting his clothes rustle. 

“Pema and I will be calling our friend. Can you please stay in this room? We don’t want you getting hurt.” He kept his voice soft. 

She gave another affirmative. “If you need anything, someone will be just down the hall. If you call out, they will come get us, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

Tenzin and Pema walked out of the room, shutting the door behind them. He looked at her and asked “Are you alright? I can call Kya and have her look at you.”

Pema shook her head. “I was really more startled than anything. I know I shouldn’t have startled her like that, but my first instinct was to comfort her.”

Tenzin sighed, “We should go call Lin.”

“You go ahead. I’m going to go get my things and work in the room down the hall. I don’t want to overwhelm her with too many strangers.” Pema argued, and he saw the wisdom in her action. He nodded, kissed her goodbye and walked back to his office. 

——

As far as days went at the station, Lin’s was relatively uneventful. She’d only had two meetings that morning, both horribly dull and one just a waste of her valuable time, but she was starting to send Saikhan to more things to prepare him for taking her role. Ever since her visit to the South Pole the year prior, he had wised up and stepped up to the task. She was determined to make it to sixty, having spent thirty-five years as the chief. Kya disapproved of her decision, but kept her mouth shut about it and healed Lin whenever she was in too much discomfort. 

Disapproved was the wrong word. Disappointed was probably more accurate. Kya wanted all of Lin’s time, for what reason Lin couldn’t gather, but she had to have something to do outside her apartment. 

She reviewed the files on her desk. A couple officers were requesting permission for stakeouts, while others wanted warrants to be approved. Engrossed in her work, she jumped, banging her knee on her desk when her phone rang. She didn’t hesitate to answer, few people had the direct number to her office, and even fewer of those people felt the urge to call her often.

“Chief Beifong speaking.” She answered. 

“Lin, I’m glad you’re in your office.” 

“Tenzin, to what do I owe the pleasure of you calling me while I’m at work?” He had taken to calling her residence more often to invite her and Kya over for family dinner, and Kya usually attended while Lin abstained. His family ate so early, well before Lin typically left the precinct. She still tried to keep up with them like she had after Korra’s first stint in the city, but Republic City’s problems just kept growing, and her presence just kept dwindling until it was lucky she made it once a month. 

“A child was abandoned on the island last night.” he started and she raised her eyebrows. It wasn’t exactly easy to get on and off the island unnoticed, “And I was hoping you could take a statement from her and help us locate her parents.”

“I can send an officer over to the island to interview you, but it’s almost noon and they might be long gone,” she warned. “Do you know who was manning the ferry last night?”

There was silence on the other end, and she felt annoyance creep up on her at Tenzin’s dithering. She didn’t have time for him to beat around the bush. 

“I think it would be best if you came in person, instead of sending someone else.”

“And why would that be? I have work to do here, and I don’t really have time for visits to your island all the time.” she grumbled. 

“Lin, the girl is blind.”

She was silent a few moments, waiting for him to elaborate, but when he didn’t she responded, “And why does that matter to me? She might not be a very good witness, but did anyone else see what her parents looked like?”

“You’re the only person I know who is... experienced with things like this.”

“Experienced with what? You and I both know Mom didn’t have any issues with being blind, not like this kid is going to have.” Tenzin grew up with Toph’s ever knowing feet and was around early enough that him and and Lin had to sneak away.

“Lin, please.” 

She rubbed her forehead. “My officers are just as capable as taking statements as I am, and most are just as qualified to handle a blind witness or a child as I am or more so since I don’t exactly have a way with kids.”

“I would feel better if you were the one handling this.”

Disgruntled, “You’re lucky we’re friends, Tenzin. I’ll be out there this afternoon.” He’s also lucky that Kya would give her grief for this if she said no. “Find out who was manning the ferry and get them on the island.” she ordered. 

“Of course. Thank you, Lin.”

She hung up on him. Flaming airbenders. Always making her life so difficult. She figured that she could finish reviewing all the information for two stakeouts before making her way to the island. 

——

Lin hung up on him, and he started preparing for her visit. Fu should have been working the ferry late last night and Donu was still working it this morning, so either of them should have noticed the couple leaving without their daughter. 

He looked for Jun and asked him to find Fu by one thirty. After assuring Tenzin he would do so, Jun disappeared and Tenzin focused on finding Ikki. After nearly twenty minutes of searching, he finally found her practicing her forms with another airbender. 

“Ikki!” he called out, “Do you have a minute? I need to ask you something.” 

She said something to her companion, then flew towards him, ruffling his robes. “Yeah, Daddy, what do you want?”

“Were you the one who gave the tours yesterday?”

“Yeah! There was a family with a girl that didn’t talk very much and a teenage boy that wanted to stay here.” Tenzin nodded. 

“Ikki, Chief Beifong is going to come here this afternoon and she’ll have some questions for you.” He explained.

“Aunt Lin is coming? Is she going to stay for dinner? Does that mean Aunt Kya is coming too?” Ikki’s already perky personality was in overdrive. “It’s been forever since they were both here for dinner! Can we call Aunt Kya and see?”

“No, this is work related, she’ll only be here for a little while before going back to the station.” Ikki dimmed.

“Can we call Aunt Kya anyway? She might change her mind.” She suggested. 

Tenzin shook his head, “Lin is busy and was generous enough to take time to come out here. She’ll eat dinner another time.”

Ikki pouted but nodded. “Fine. When is Aunt Lin going to be here?”

“She said sometime this afternoon, so please some to my office between one thirty and two so we can wait for her.”

Ikki agreed and turned her attention back to her companion. 

Tenzin sighed, and went to check on Pema. Maybe Nomi had been more willing to talk in the time he had been gone. Upon seeing his wife, his mood lightened. “Is there any update?”

She gestured for him to sit next to her, “She came out once to use the bathroom, but that’s it. I was about to get another plate of food for her; she didn’t eat much this morning and I’m concerned with how small she is. She’s the same age as Rohan, but no where near his size. And the others were bigger at that age too.” 

Tenzin agreed with her, and offered to go get the plate of food. Pema stayed behind and continued her sewing.

——

Nomi knew the adults were lying. They had to be. Momma and Daddy had said they were visiting a nice man and his family and they were rich and owned a whole island and they were like her, with the wind. 

She remembered the night before, when her mother had hugged her and kissed her head and her dad had squeezed her tightly. They loved her and people who loved you didn’t do this. They didn’t leave their children behind. So no matter how nice the woman was or the man, she knew they were liars. 

She felt bad about hurting them. Nomi heard the startled cry from the woman, after she had touched her without warning, but Nomi couldn’t help it. She always apologized to Momma and she never seemed angry with her. She owed the woman the same apology. 

She had familiarized herself with the room, grateful it was so bare. A stone bed was in the corner, and if Nomi launched herself right, she could hop on the bed without any issues. Her blanket and badgermole were there, waiting for her. 

She walked towards the door, reaching up to turn the knob. She opened the door and then called out “Hello?”, hoping they had kept their word after her misbehavior. 

She heard the rustling of cloth and the steps coming towards her. The woman’s soft voice said, “Nomi? It’s me, Pema. Is there something I can help you with?”

“I’m sorry for hurting you earlier. I didn’t mean to.” She started. Momma wouldn’t let her eat or do anything until she apologized, so she knew the routine. Even if they were liars, they deserved an apology. 

“It’s alright, sweetheart, I know you didn’t want to hurt me.” the woman, Pema, assured her. “Did you need something?”

Nomi squirmed. “I have to go to the bathroom. But I don’t know where it is.”

“I can show you.” there was silence and then she continued, “Can I take your hand?”

Nomi offered her hand and followed the nice woman around. 

——

Lin walked onto the island from a police boat. She didn’t have the time to waste by waiting for the official ferry, and she was finally going to have a good reason to get her Mom’s garbage out of her office. Meelo was fascinated with the machine, and never broke it despite his best efforts when he dropped in to visit, so Lin figured it was indestructible. And now that it would be on the island, it was even less likely that Meelo would consider visiting her necessary, which was a win for the entire station, as he always caused a ruckus and disrupted the flow of work. 

The machine was annoyingly heavy, and she carried it by the metal box it housed in, a folder under her arm so she could record the statements. Tenzin was waiting for her, probably alerted by one of the acolytes that she was on her way. 

“Here, it looks like you’re going to get more use out of this thing than I am.” she said, gesturing towards the equipment next to her. “Your son knows how to use it, if you need help.”

“Was this Toph’s?” he inquired. 

“Technically, it belonged to the police station, but we don’t have any use for it and it hasn’t been really used since she quit.” She huffed. “I’m using my position as chief to find it a new home. You’re welcome.”

“Ah, thank you, Lin.” Tenzin nodded. 

“I’m not carrying it any farther.” She informed him, and he carried it on a gust of air. She smirked when she saw him readjust as the weight was significantly higher than what he had anticipated. “It’s yours now. And I don’t want it back, so don’t even try.”

“Nomi is this way. She’s staying in the guest quarters; it’s where all potential acolytes or airbenders and their families stay.” They walked past his office, and Lin knew this wasn’t the most effective way to the guest rooms, but he was lagging under the machine and wanted a place to drop it off.

“Did you manage to find that ferry captian?” She asked. 

“Yes, Fu and Donu were manning the ferry at all times when the family could have left. Ikki also gave them a tour yesterday. I thought you  
might want to talk to Nomi first, since she’s the main witness. Pema will be with you and the child while I find everyone else.” Lin nodded. It sounded fine to her. This shouldn’t take much longer than an hour, and she could be back on her way to her now even emptier than normal office. 

“Where is the note that was left with her?”

Tenzin pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to her. She read it, disappointment settling in her stomach. Preplanned abandonments were not taken lightly, especially not with disabled children. It was unlikely they would find her parents, or even that they were from the city. She supposed the kid might want the letter, even if they couldn’t read it, and handed it back to Tenzin. There was no identifying information about her parents from the letter, and it was useless to Lin. 

They finally arrived in the room where Pema appeared to be busying herself. She looked up at the two of them and smiled. “Lin! I’m glad you’re here. Nomi is still in her room. She came out to use the bathroom and to eat, but that was it.” 

They explained their plan to Pema, that she and Lin would interview Nomi, and Tenzin would get everyone else ready. She agreed and they all walked down the hall. Pema knocked on the door and a high, little voice answered. Pema introduced the three of them and received permission to enter. Lin felt loud compared to the air family. Tenzin had always been silent and it appeared his wife was the same way. She had to actively focus on being quiet on stealth missions— metal armor was inherently noisy. 

It didn’t matter now, anyway. It would probably be better if she was noisy. The kid could hear her, and wouldn’t freak out. 

Tenzin greeted the girl, but then took his leave, collecting the rest of Lin’s witnesses. 

Lin looked at her as she sat down. The kid was tiny, even smaller than Tenzin’s youngest. Her hair was messy, and reminded Lin of Toph’s when it wasn’t in a bun. She turned her head towards them to hear better, but didn’t make eye contact and it made Lin feel a lot younger.

“Nomi, my name is Chief Beifong. I’m the Chief of Police in Republic City. I’m going to ask you a series of questions.” She pulled out her writing board and file, clipping it into place. “I have a file where I’m recording the answers you give me so I don’t forget them. Do you have any questions before we start?” 

“You’re going to find my parents, right? I know the people here are supposed to be nice, but they’re lying to me. Momma and Daddy wouldn’t leave me.” She said plaintively. 

“I am going to do my best to find your parents. In the mean time, Pema and Tenzin will take care of you and anything you might need. Your parents didn’t lie to you, the people here _are_ nice and they want what’s best for you. 

“Can you tell me your name and your parents names?” Lin started at the top of her form. 

“My name is is Nomi. My parents are Momma and Daddy.” This was... remarkably unhelpful. Toph had insisted they knew her name from the get go, but allowed them to call her Mom or Chief. 

“You don’t know your parents names? You never heard them call each other something different?” She pressed, writing down Nomi’s name in the box. 

“No. That was their names.” the brat insisted, and Lin decided to let it go. Maybe Ikki got their names. 

“Alright. How old are you?”

“I’m seven.” 

“Do you know of any one who might want to hurt your parents?” Lin continued routinely. 

“No! Are they hurt somewhere?” She sounded distressed, and Lin hoped she imagined the breeze through the room, that it was coming from the open window. She glanced at Pema, who was looking nervous. Perhaps not. 

“Kid, that’s what we’re trying to find out. We’ll do our best to find them, but you need to keep calm so we can do that.” The breeze came again. “That’s you, Nomi. Knock it off. It’s distracting and dangerous if you can’t control it. Pema and I aren’t airbenders.” The kid grabbed her badgermole and squeezed it, and sniffled.

“I’m not trying to! I’m really not. It just happens and I’m sorry but I can’t stop it!” A gust punctuated her outburst. Lin was glad she clipped her papers to her writing board. She would not have restarted if her papers were scattered everywhere.

Pema grabbed Lin’s arm with a concerned look and she shook her off. Clearly everyone was babying this kid and it wasn’t helping anyone. “Your parents brought you here to help you learn to ‘stop it’. The only teachers for air bending are on this island, and they wanted you to be safe.” Lin knew her tone wasn’t particularly kind, but her mom had used it when she or Su threw a fit as a kid and it worked on her, “You can’t keep making excuses for your outbursts, okay? Take a breath, as many as you need, and we’ll keep going.” 

Nomi hiccuped in front of her, sniffling. A few minutes later, the wind died down to nothing. “Good job, kid. Accidents happen, but you can’t keep having them and hurting others. Not even the Avatar is allowed to do that.” Lin smiled, remembering arresting Korra.

“Do you know the Avatar?” Nomi asked excitedly.

“Yes, and we’re not talking about her right now. We’re talking about you. Where are you from?” Kids always got excited at the idea of being around Korra, much to her distaste. The girl was better than when Lin met her seven years prior, but it would still be a few years yet before she wanted kids emulating her. 

“We’re from outside the city. We lived by the market.”

“What was your villages’ name?” Lin tried to get something more useful out of the girl. 

Nomi’s brow furrowed. “Shiyan. I think.”

“You think?” Lin wanted to pinch her nose. The kid thought her villages’ name was village. “How’d you get to the island?” Maybe the route they took would lead them to her parents. 

“We took a couple trains! And before the trains we had to walk a lot.” Damn. If they lived far away from the train stops, it would be harder to find them. “The trains were so cool! I could feel the ground shake under me!”

“I’m sure you could. Did you hear your parents mention any cities that you visited on your way here?” If they could get at least one city, the search might not be hopeless. 

A pout, then “No.” Drat. 

“How many trains were there?”

“Three?” 

“You’re not sure?”

“I fell asleep.” 

“Were either of your parents benders?” 

“No.”

“Do you have any grandparents?”

“No?”

“Kid, do you know literally anything about where you grew up or your family, or have you been blind to all of that too?” Lin huffed and Pema let out an indignant, “Lin!”

She thought it was a fair question. Toph would have _killed_ her had she be so ignorant to not know where she lived or her parent’s name. Lin could recite all that information by the time she was four. Su wasn’t allowed to be alone until she could do the same thing. 

Tears welled up on the kids face, and for a second Lin felt bad, until, “Momma didn’t want me to know anything because I wasn’t supposed to go anywhere without her and get hurt and _I’m the only one who gets to make fun of my eyes!_ ” Nomi screamed, another wind gust buffeting the adults. Dramatic brat. Lin took her tantrum as a no. 

“Watch the wind, kid, seriously. I just wanted to know if you had anything useful. I can see now that you don’t. Pema here will take care of you while I go ask everyone else about your parents. Maybe they’ll have something of use to find them.” Lin stood, and made to walk out the door. Pema scrambled after her. 

Out in the hallway, she hissed, “Lin! That child is traumatized! The least you could do is not make fun of her disabilities!” 

“The kid needs to toughen up! It’ll be good for her.” Lin argued, turning away. “You can go coddle her if you want, I have to go talk to the rest of the witnesses.” she turned away from the younger woman, walking to Tenzin’s office.

Upon arriving, two men she recognized from the ferry and Ikki sat outside. “Alright, who’s first?”

“Aunt Lin! Can I go first? I haven’t seen you in ages!” Ikki bounced up, reaching out to hug Lin. Reflexively, a cable snapped out and wrapped around Ikki’s waist, holding her back. “Not fair!” Ikki pouted in disappointment, and the two men laughed. 

Lin retracted her cable with a stern look. “In your dad‘s office, let’s go.” Ikki bounced into the office and seriously, did the kid ever take a break? Lin sat in one of the chairs opposite Tenzin, who was pretending to be occupied by something, pulling out her clipboard. 

“Can you describe the kid’s parents to me?” Lin asked, knowing she was going to regret this. 

“Yeah! Her dad was kinda tall, not as tall as Daddy but taller than you, and he had brown hair.” Lin started writing. 

“Was it short?”

“No, I just said he was tall.” She stopped writing. 

“His hair, Ikki!” Lin snapped, frustrated with the entire endeavor. They were never going to find this kid’s parents because the parents didn’t want to be found and had kept their daughter in pure ignorance. 

“Oh, yeah, his hair was kinda short, a little longer than Kai’s. His eyes were bright green, and it matched his shirt! I told him that and he said ‘thank you’. “ As annoying as Ikki could be, she was a great witness. 

“Did he have any scars or other identifiable features?”

“Not that I remember.” 

“What about her mom?” 

“Her hair was really long, down to here,” Ikki gestured at her chest, “And she kept half of it up! Her hair had a lot of grey in it. And she was about Mom’s height.”

“Did you get either of their names? Did either of them say anything about where they were from or what they did?” Hopefully one of them was negligent enough to mention their hometown to Ikki. 

She shook her head. “They never introduced themselves, just their daughter. And they said they lived in a small village a long way away from here.”

“Did they say anything about Nomi?”

“Her mom said she was really shy.” Lin snorted. That kid wasn’t shy at all, little hellion.

“You got anything else that was notable about them, before you sign this and I let you go?” Ikki took the pen and board, quickly signing her name.

She was looking suspicious. Lin knew she was going to try hugging her again, and she debated the pros of stopping her again. The only one around was Tenzin, and he’d seen his children assault her multiple times and it really didn’t matter. 

“No? You’re free to go and do... whatever it is that you do.”

Lin stowed the pen quickly as Ikki came rushing towards her. Arms wrapped themselves around her armored shoulders, “Aunt Lin you _have_ to visit more! Meelo is insufferable and you’re the only person he shuts up and listens to.” Lin didn’t examine the irony of that statement. “Aunt Kya comes over, so why don’t you?”

Lin tentatively patted Ikki’s shoulder, and softened her voice. “Kid, I’m busy, doing things like this. I’ll try getting out here sometime soon.”

Ikki smiled at her promise. Lin would try to be out there next week, but it depended on how things were at the station. 

The kid let go of her and flew out of the room. 

Tenzin looked like he was going to say something, and Lin glared at him. “Not a word out of you.” He shut his mouth. 

She stood and got her next witness. The on-duty ferryman agreed with everything Ikki had said, and the off duty ferryman said they had left on the last ferry the previous night. Lin thanked them for their time and sat back down in the chair. No one knew their names, their home town, their occupations or why they felt so compelled to abandon their kid instead of staying with her. 

“We’re not going to find these people.” She told Tenzin bluntly. 

“What do you mean?”

“They keep their kid in the dark, figuratively, literally, about everything. She doesn’t know their real names, their home town, has no relatives that she knows about. The only useful thing I got from her is that she lived a long walk from the train station, and there were at least three trains they had to get on to make it here. She thinks their village was name was Shiyan.” Tenzin grimaced at all this information. “I can assign this case to one of my detectives, and I will, but you had better prepare for taking care of your new brat, or figure out someone who can. I can’t waste my people’s time chasing this for more than a few days, especially since they’re probably already out of our jurisdiction.”

Tenzin clasped his hands together on his desk, a downtrodden sigh escaping him. “I understand. I knew it might be a long shot, but still wanted to try. I know you’ll do your best.”

“You’re going to have a real handful with that kid.” Lin warned him. 

“What do you mean? We can figure out accommodations for her impairment.” Tenzin’s was offended at the idea of the air nomad culture not being accepting.

“That’s not what I’m talking about. Get the girl a cane and teach her how to use it and she’ll be fine. Meelo can teach you both how to read if you’re interested in that. Her eyesight is the _least_ of your problems. 

“She’s not interested in you or Pema and has a temper to rival Su in her prime. I don’t know what happened before I got here, but I can guess when Pema is moving stiffer than normal for your acolytes.” Lin explained to him. 

“She’s had a rough day, things will even out and it’s our responsibility to support her through this.” He stopped and climbed off his ostrich horse, “What do you mean, a cane?”

She pulled a bit of metal off her uniform, drawing it into a thin rod. “Like this. She walks with it swinging in front of her so things hit that instead of her.” She merged the rod and her uniform again.

“How do you know all of this?” He inquired. 

Lin looked at him. “Mom thought it was funny to whack Uncle Sokka in the knee caps when he gave her one as a joke.” Lin thought for a moment, “Your new kid is also tetchy about the blind jokes.”

“Lin, you didn’t!” He was affronted. 

“It may have slipped out. I’m not one for censoring myself, Tenzin, and how was I supposed to know she’d care that much? Mom didn’t care and I don’t think she ever did.” 

Tenzin rubbed his bald head. “Toph was a special case. Do you know where I could acquire a child sized cane? She can’t be trapped in one room here.”

“I don’t even know where Sokka got his. I’ve got an idea of how you can start. Walk back to the dock with me.” Tenzin stood and followed her out the door. 

“Tell me something I can use to make this cane. I need a metal core so it doesn’t just fall apart or weigh too much while you get a wood one made.”

They came to the fence she had ripped out years prior. “This fine?” He nodded, and she formed a rod four and half feet long, then covered it in earth to make it more springy. She handed the finished work to him. “You might need one about this size. Ask her how she wants to be helped around. She can just tell you if this is too long or if she needs anything else.”

She bid him to have a good evening and she headed to the station. Her afternoon felt like a waste, but she dutifully put the file on Mako’s desk and told him to put his best effort into it. 

Not her problem, anymore. She would follow through, but Tenzin couldn’t ask more from her than that.

——

Pema reentered the room after Lin left, cautious. “Nomi? Thank you for answering those question for Chief Beifong. I know it wasn’t easy for you.”

Nomi slid off the bed she had curled up on, moving towards Pema. She reached out and grabbed Pema’s robe, before hugging her. 

“I don’t like the mean lady.” She grumbled. “Do I have to talk to her again?”

“We’ll see. Chief Beifong is on the island pretty often; she’s part of our family. But I don’t think she’ll have to interview you again.” Pema tried to reassure Nomi without making promises that were too big. She returned the child’s embrace and stroked he hair.

Nomi clung to her. “She made fun of me.”

Pema didn’t want to share all of Lin’s secrets, and certainly Lin would be displeased when she found out, but Pema felt the kid deserved an explanation. “Chief Beifong’s mother was blind too. I’ve never met her, but from what I’ve heard, she liked hearing jokes like that.”

“She liked being made fun of?” Nomi shook her head. “Momma said we shouldn’t make fun of others because they’re different.”

“Toph, Chief Beifong’s mom, didn’t see it that way. She didn’t want anyone to treat her differently because of it, and all of her friends and family made jokes about it.” Pema tried to explain, but she didn’t know much about the former chief of police, only that Lin had come by her grumpiness honestly.

“Do I have to like being made fun of?” Nomi asked, downtrodden. Pema’s heart clenched. 

“No, but we have to remember not everyone has the same experiences we do. I’ll talk with Chief Beifong, and you need to let me know if anyone else is bothering you, okay? That’s my job, to protect you.” Pema let her words sink in. Unless the parents had said a lot more to the ferryman or Ikki, it didn’t look likely that they’d be able to find them.

Nomi nodded into her stomach. Pema hoped she took her words to heart. It wasn’t likely that anyone on the island would say anything, but she didn’t control the world.

“Sweetheart, do you want to put your hair up?” Nomi currently sported a mess on top of her head. 

“Momma always did that.” she mumbled. Pema tried to live up to her vows of pacifism for their air nation at all times, but every time Nomi mentioned her parents, she was finding it more and more difficult. They didn’t tell her anything about where she was from or who her family was. They didn’t teach her how to care for herself. 

“Well, I know I’m not _your_ Momma, but I am a mother. I did my two daughters’s hair for years. Do you know how you want it styled?”

A pause then quietly, “Can you braid it? I like the way it feels when I touch it.”

“Of course. Do you want to stay here while I go get a comb, or do you want to come with me?”

“I don’t want to be alone.”

Pema grasped the tiny hand in hers and squeezed. “Come on! Let’s go get a comb. Do you know how to braid hair?”

“No.” Her face scrunched up, “I can’t see it.”

“Like you said, though, you can feel what it’s supposed to look like. I can’t see my hair to braid it when I do it to myself. How about I teach you?”

Looking more excited at the prospect, Nomi eagerly followed Pema out the door, hand in hand. This child would have a home here, whether her parents were there or not. 

——

Pema had just left Nomi after the girl complained about wanting a nap when Tenzin found her. “What are we going to tell the others, if Ikki hasn’t already said something?”

“We can tell them that she’ll be staying with us for a little while. We have to wait for Lin to find something before saying it’s more permanent.” Pema nodded in agreement. They were walking towards the main dining area when they spotted Ikki. She perked up when she saw them. They waved for her to come over. 

“Do you know where your brothers and sister are?” Tenzin asked. 

“Meelo’s teaching Uncle Bumi and Rohan how to play hog-monkey in the middle by the garden and Jinora and Kai are with the sky bison.” Tenzin tried to ignore that last bit of information. 

“Can you go get your sister? We need to have a family discussion, the sooner the better.”

“Is this about Nomi? Does this mean she’s staying with us? Are we going to teach her air bending?” 

“Ikki, not here!” Pema hushed her. “Go get your sister and meet us back at the dining room. We’ll discuss this there.”

They parted ways, and the two adults were relived to see Ikki had been right about their sons. A few minutes later, all six found their way into the dining room. 

Pema clapped her hands together. “So as you all maybe have been told, we have a guest on the island that’s going to be staying here for a while.”

“We have guests all the time why are we have a meeting about this one? Are they a spy?” Meelo asked. 

“No, Meelo, she’s not a spy. We’re having a meeting because our guest is younger and I want you all to make her feel welcome.” 

“Where are her parents?” Meelo asked indignantly.

“They’re not here right now, it’s just Nomi. She’ll be eating dinner with us while she’s here.” Her children nodded. 

A few other questions were answered, and Tenzin and Pema answered as well as they could with the uncertain future ahead of them. If Lin found her parents, she didn’t know if it was the right thing to do to reunite them. They made their decision. Pema tried to readjust her thoughts to accommodate this new addition to her family. 

She hoped Lin stopped being so abrasive.

——

Nomi started airbending lessons with Tenzin the next day. He invited her along to join his morning mediation, and she had eagerly accepted. He had yet to show her the cane that Lin had made, to see if she liked the size of it before commissioning a lighter wooden one. 

He instructed her to sit in the lotus position, and when she complied, he started on breathing exercises. 

“It’s important that you master these exercises. Airbenders are pacifists, and we don’t intentionally harm other living creatures.” He intoned. “When you’re more comfortable, my son Rohan will join us. He’s a year older than you.”

Nomi tried to focus on her breathing and clearing her mind. Her mind kept wandering to her parents. They wanted her here. She wanted them here, but they weren’t? Didn’t want to be? After a nap and dinner the previous day, she tried not to think about what it meant that her parents weren’t there. 

She kept trying to think of what she did to make them so mad at her they’d leave her. That they spent days traveling to get rid of her. Tenzin and Pema had tried to keep her away from the truth, but she could hear them talking in the halls. The mean lady told Tenzin it wasn’t likely they found them.

Her breaths hitched. She could feel tears sliding down her cheeks and she hoped Tenzin wasn’t looking at her and that he focused on his own meditation. She wiped them away. She tried listening for him, to see if he noticed her not being able to follow the most basic instructions. They were so nice to her, trying to help her find her parents, feeding her, teaching her. 

Momma had told her about how there wasn’t enough food all the time, but that things would work out. Nomi knew there were a lot of others on the island, and if there wasn’t enough food for the three of them, a whole island must have been harder. Daddy _always_ had to eat first, since he was the one who was working. Momma always shared with her, but she could hear her mothers stomach growling.

She was listening but she still didn’t hear when he moved and he was gently touching her shoulder and she just reacted and a firm gust of wind and she thought he flew backwards, but there was no thump to show that he hand landed. 

“I’m sorry, Nomi, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Nomi started to cry again, this time in earnest. She kept hurting these people, and they were going to give her to the mean lady because that’s what happened to bad people who hurt others—the police took them away. It happened to the guy who hurt others at Daddy’s work. 

Pema was so soft and nice and kind and she was acting like Momma did when she was trying not to upset Nomi and she didn’t want to make people feel like that. Momma and Daddy must have decided that Nomi was _bad_ , that she didn’t deserve them anymore.

“Nomi, I’m on your right. Is it alright if I hug you?” She nodded miserably and wasn’t startled this time when an arm wrapped around her shoulders. She buried herself in the folds of cloth surrounding her. 

“I’m sorry. I was listening but I didn’t hear anything and you scared me and I’m sorry! Please don’t let the mean lady take me!” Nomi cried.

“The mean lady?” Tenzin repeated, confused. “Are you talking about Chief Beifong?”

Another slow nod. Tenzin snorted. “Chief Beifong won’t be taking you anywhere. I should have been louder so you wouldn’t be startled, or I should have said something. I will get better at it, but in the meantime, can you forgive me for startling you?”

She nodded with fervor. 

“I have something I want to show you. Are you okay to walk, or would you prefer that I carry you?” Excitement filled her, previous distress all but forgotten.

“Carry me!” He detached himself from her to stand, then a moment later two hands reached under her armpits and lifted. She gripped his clothes with all her strength once she had settled. 

A few minutes of walking later, and he set her back down, this time holding her hand. “Chief Beifong told me about a type of cane that some people who can’t see use to walk around. She made a prototype out of metal and dirt for you to try before I get you a lighter one of wood.” Nomi furrowed her brow in thought. Why would the mean lady make her anything?

“Hold out your hands.” He instructed, letting go. She dutifully held out her hands. A long, heavy, round object was placed in them. She had to readjust because of the weight, and grip it tightly with both hands so she didn’t drop it. 

“It’s heavy.” Nomi mumbled. 

“I know. Can you hold it so the tip of it is touching the ground.” Nomi shifted and did as he asked. “Perfect!”

“She said that the cane was used by swinging it in front of you, so it hits things before you do. I’m going to stop talking, and stand in front of you. There’s nothing here except you and me. Can you try using it?” She waited a couple moments until she thought he settled, then, using both hands, swung the cane. Nothing. She stepped forward. She swung again, nothing. She stepped forward. 

She repeated the process five times, concerned she was doing something wrong. Tenzin was staying silent, but she didn’t think he had stood so far from her. 

She swung the cane for the 6th time, but was stopped halfway through the swing. “Is that you?” Nomi asked, stepping forward and reaching for his robes. She grasped the soft cloth in front of her, “I did it! I found you!”

“Yes, you did! Is the cane the right length? You said it was heavy, but a wooden one should be able to be held with one hand.”

She ran her hand up and up to see exactly how long it was. “It’s long.”

“Can I borrow it for a second?” She nodded. He took it from her grasp, and she heard it touch the ground, then some shuffling. “I think it would be better if it came up to your nose, instead of past your head. Would you like it back?”

She eagerly held out her hands. 

——

Tenzin found a woodcarver that was willing to expedite the cane making and have it by the end of the week. He left Nomi to herself for a nap before he and Oogi went to the outskirts of the city. He put down a deposit and the dimensions, before returning to the island. 

He received a call two days later saying that it was finished whenever he was ready to pick it up. He dropped what he was doing immediately, paid the price in full, and took the cane back. 

Nomi looked significantly more comfortable with this one instead of the metal and dirt one Lin had created. 

——

The only thing Mako had managed to find about the parents was that they had boarded  
a train to Ba Sing Se, but there were at least fifteen stops between Republic City and Ba Sing Se where they could have switched trains to head in a different direction.

Lin was not surprised. She had warned Tenzin this was likely to happen. The girl’s parents had decided a blind daughter who was as helpless as they created was too much of a burden. It was probably for the best that they weren’t reunited. 

She dialed the number to the island. It nearly rang out before Tenzin picked up. 

“Tenzin speaking.”

“Tenzin, Mako found someone who saw the kid’s parents get on a train heading towards Ba Sing Se. After that the trail was cold.” she explained. He couldn’t be surprised by this news considering how she had told him six days ago this exact scenario would happen. 

“Lin, thank you for looking into it.”

“I can bring the paperwork for you to officially adopt her when Kya and I come over later today for dinner.”

“That would be good, thank you. Nomi really likes the cane. The one you made was too big for her, but I had a wooden one created and she’s taken to it like a turtleduck to water.”

“That’s good, I guess. We’ll be on the island around 5:30, but if I want to keep to that, I need to finish all my work here.”

“Of course. We’ll see you later, Lin.”

A click, then she was alone again. She had collected the paperwork for Tenzin early in the week. She also had a marble and clay stamp with Nomi’s name on it to give to them. The girl wouldn’t be able to write, but she’d still need to sign her name. Her mom had had something similar at the station to sign official reports.

Both things were back in her apartment. She would grab them when she changed out of her uniform.

She turned her attention back to the file in front of her. She had no idea why Matu had thought this would be approved. She marked it as denied and moved on to the next one. 

——

They took the ferry since it wasn’t official business and Kya insisted. Lin was carrying a bag with the two gifts. Tenzin met them at the dock. 

She pulled out both items, and handed them to Tenzin. “It’s a stamp with her name on it. Mom had one.” She explained as he delicately held the block, confusion evident on his face. 

“Have you told her yet?” she asked. The kid was going to be upset with the news.

“I wanted to wait until after you left.” 

“You’d better do it soon. It’ll get worse the longer this goes on.”

“Lin, can you be,” he hesitated and she knew this was going to be good, “nice, tonight? All Nomi will refer to you as is ‘the mean lady’.” 

Lin and Kya both barked out a laugh. “Well, she’s not wrong, is she? Come on. I promise I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“So, do I get to see Nomi again? Has she come out of her shell since last week?”

“Yes! The cane has helped since she can walk around without holding our hands, and Rohan and her have hit it off. The three of us practice our meditation every morning.” Tenzin said excitedly. The three of them walked towards his office, where he deposited the gifts she had brought, before going to the dining room.

Kya peeled off to visit the kitchen, where Pema was bringing dishes out to the table. Lin was distracted by the number of children around the table. Tenzin had finally pulled his head out of his ass and Kai was invited to dinner with them, seated next to Jinora. Ikki sat on the other side of Kai, and Meelo and Rohan bracketed Nomi. Bumi was seated in his usual spot opposite Tenzin, and Kya and Lin’s seats were empty. 

“Aunt Lin!” Rohan yelled, jumping up with a burst of air and nearly tackling her. She hadn’t worn her armor, and had forgotten how enthusiastic his kids could be. Lin staggered, the breath knocked out of her, and before she could pry Rohan off her, Meelo and Ikki joined the hug. Well and truly pinned, Kya and Pema chose that moment to enter the room. Jinora smiled at them. 

“Aw, Lin! They missed you!” Kya exclaimed, “They don’t ever act like that when I come and visit.” She pouted, infusing her voice with mock misery. Lin curled her lip and Kya laughed. 

Ikki abandoned Lin and hugged Kya once she had placed the bowls on the table. “We missed you too, Aunt Kya, but Aunt Lin hardly ever visits!”

“I can’t believe I’m not your favorite aunt when I was your _only_ aunt for 12 years. How ever will I survive?” Kya said dramatically. 

“You can continue being their favorite aunt. Rohan, Meelo, go back to your seats. It’s been good seeing you all too.” She gently pushed them away, watching them sit on either side of Nomi, who’s hands started gripping her dress tightly. She was reminded that the girl apparently only called her the mean lady, “Nomi, how has this past week been?”

“I’ve been good.” The child responded, voice sullen. 

“I’m glad to hear it. Tenzin told me you’ve been walking around with a cane more often.” Lin tried to be nicer, but she could feel Tenzin’s gaze switching between the two. 

“I’m getting better.” Same sullen tone. 

Alright well that was enough of that. “That’s ... great. Bumi, are you any closer to beating Meelo and Rohan at hogmonkey in the middle?”

It was the right thing to ask. Both boys were loudly yelling that Bumi wasn’t even close to defeating them, and Bumi vehemently denied the slander, spinning a story about how he had defeated the two of them with his superb airbending.

After the arguing had been going on for a few minutes, Pema placed the last bowl down and instructed everyone to dig in. Before she sat down, she asked Nomi what she would like to eat, and filled the plate for her. The girl was adept at using her chopsticks and there hadn’t been any messes from her, not like the boys surrounding her. 

Force of habit had Lin retracting the bottom of her shoe, tapping the ground hard enough to get a reading, but not so much to disturb the others around her. She could feel two familiar footsteps rushing down the hall. 

“Incoming.” She warned. “Your prodigy has decided to visit.”

No sooner had she announced it, Korra and Asami burst through the door. The three older adults moved around so the young ones could join them. “Sorry we’re late.” The Sato girl started. “Someone thoughts a run through the park was going to be a great idea before dinner and we had to clean up.”

Korra had already filled a plate, and her mouth was full of dumpling. She made an indignant noise. “It was Naga!”

Laughter filled the room, and Asami started chatting about her work and the new discoveries with Kya, and Korra and Bumi were talking about strategies to beat the boys at their own game. Lin liked hearing all the discussion around her, and didn’t feel particularly inclined to participate. She was awkward enough and none of her conversations went like she wanted them too. 

Nomi sneezed. 

She covered her mouth, so the plates barely rustled, but the girl in question flew back and hit the wall. “Nomi, are you alright?” Jinora asked, helping the girl stand up and leading her back to the table. 

Korra and Asami stared. Tenzin cleared his throat. “Korra, Asami, this is Nomi. Say hi.”

“Uh, Hi, Nomi. My name is Korra.” the Avatar stated. 

“It’s nice to meet you! I’m Asami Sato.” The non bender responsed more gracefully. 

They turned to Tenzin, “Nomi is staying with us for a while to learn to control her airbending.” The two young women nodded, and conversation resumed. 

——

There were so many people there, Nomi found it difficult to keep track of all the new voices. She kept quiet, not wanting to draw attention to herself as both the two new people she hadn’t met and the mean lady were sitting somewhere near her.

The mean lady had stopped talking to her after her announcement she was getting better with the cane. That was good. 

She’d heard a lot about Aunt Lin the week that she’d been there, but hadn’t realized that was the same person as the mean lady. 

Everyone spoke so highly of her, but it didn’t fit with how she had treated Nomi. Maybe she was only nice to family, and Nomi wasn’t that.

She didn’t understand how the mean lady had been able to tell about the two visitors without hearing or seeing them. Nomi couldn’t hear them over the din of the table chatter and she wouldn’t have announced it if everyone else could see them too. 

She would ask later, maybe. After the mean lady was gone and she couldn’t take Nomi away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Nomi finds out about how the mean lady sees, Tenzin asks her to join the family, Lin calls her a bat. Then has to explain what a bat is. 
> 
> Feel free to follow me on Twitter (@lilyliv3rs)! I love talking about LoK.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My exams were easier than I thought they’d be, so here. I also _really_ did not want to study for them. 
> 
> Also no beta as normal, this was written in the wee hours of the night so there’s a bunch of typos, and if I have written anything that just screams “This is horrible” please tell me so I can fix it!
> 
> Total chapter count went up to 3, but Nomi does start to ‘see’ in this chapter and she starts being less afraid of the mean lady.

Tenzin thought the conversation could have gone worse. He waited another day after Lin told him the status update. Another family meeting later, all four children were willing to accept the girl into their fold. 

This time Nomi hadn’t shouted and called them liars. He and Pema had walked with Nomi back to her room, and explained the situation to her. She had gone silent instead, and Tenzin thought he might have preferred it if she lashed out instead, because anger was easier to handle than this desolation.

He could tell she was heartbroken, and Tenzin explained that in order for her to stay indefinitely on the island, he would fill out adoption forms and that she was always welcome as part of their family, if she chose. Rohan was excited there was someone his age and Ikki already adored Nomi, practicing hair styles and chattering with the girl incessantly as they explored the island. 

Nomi just nodded her head as he explained everything, tears streaming down her face, snot dribbling from her nose. She sniffled, but was nearly silent as she cried. She grabbed her blanket and badgermole, holding it close to her chest and squeezing the stuffed toy for all it was worth.

“Honey, do you want a hug?” A small nod, and Pema crossed the room, joined Nomi on the bed, and wrapped her arms around her. Nomi buried herself in Pema’s robes, silence finally broken. 

“What— what did I—“ Nomi hiccuped. _What did I do to make them leave?_ Tenzin didn’t need her to finish that sentence, and neither did Pema.

“Nomi, sweetheart, you did nothing wrong. This is not your fault.” Pema tried to reassure her, but both of them knew that tonight was not going to be easy. 

Tenzin joined them, “Nomi, you have done nothing wrong.” He carefully stroked Nomi’s back in what he hoped were soothing motions. Jinora had preferred that to hugs when she was younger, and perhaps it would help here.

She continued to cry, and they let her. Eventually, ten, twenty minutes later, her sobs were far enough apart that she tried to form sentences again. 

“What’s... what’s going to hap—happen to me?” she asked, exhausted. 

Tenzin explained to her again the adoption papers that they would have to sign so legally she could stay. That she would be part of their family as much as she wished.

“I can’t... I can’t write.” she whispered. 

“Lin gave us a stamp with your name on it, for you to have in case you need to sign your name, if you would like to use that. Or we can practice until you can sign your name.” Tenzin offered. 

She nodded, thinking. Pema readjusted on the bed, able to tell that Nomi was soon to fall asleep after such an tumultuous evening. Nomi followed her and quickly did just that.

“Tenzin, I’ll stay here tonight— I don’t want her to wake up alone. Can you handle everything else with the others?” She whispered. Tenzin nodded. Pema was right that Nomi shouldn’t wake up alone after such a harrowing conversation.

Tenzin put all the other children to bed, made sure their teeth were brushed, and kissed each of them on their foreheads, despite the protests saying they were too old for such gestures. He would give anything to prevent his children from facing such feelings that their new addition was going through.

——

Nomi woke up, ensconced in two warm arms. She could hear Pema snoring lightly, and Nomi tried to soak in this warmth. They said that she was welcome on the island, that she was welcome in their family, but she knew that it didn’t mean what she wanted it to mean. They already had six mouths to feed, let alone one that wasn’t even their family. She knew how it worked and she was grateful they didn’t give her to the mean lady, that she was allowed to stay. 

Rohan and her were friends, both bored during their mediation sessions that his dad insisted on. Ikki liked spending time with her and they explored all over the island, Nomi following behind Ikki with her cane. She had more fun in the past week on the island than she had in a long time, even if it was shadowed with the fear her parents weren’t coming back. 

Fear that was fully realized the previous night? Afternoon? Nomi wasn’t sure what time it was right now, and the fact that Pema was asleep indicated that it wasn’t time to be awake again. She snuggled closer, not knowing how often she could expect this kind of thing in the future. They promised to take care of her, but they didn’t _have_ to be this nice all the time.

Her Momma had told her stories about evil stepmothers and while Pema wouldn’t, couldn’t, be like them, her real children would always take precedence. She was getting better with the cane and familiarizing herself to the island. Already she learned how to do a simple three strand braid. Tenzin said her meditation was going well, even if she thought it was boring.

She just had to keep getting better, Nomi decided. As long as she was getting better, she wasn’t a burden. She would take care of herself so they didn’t have to take care of her if they didn’t want to. She would learn all Tenzin wanted to teach her and she would try harder during their morning mediation so she didn’t have to hear his small sigh. She wouldn’t bother the mean lady or the nice lady that visited with the mean lady. 

Satisfied with her plan, she curled back into Pema. Between Pema and her badgermole, she was well protected until the morning. 

——

Tenzin was thrilled at how easily Nomi took to airbending. So far they had only really meditated, but Nomi applied herself more thoroughly than either of his two youngest. He wondered if it was a girl thing, since both Jinora and Ikki were devout meditators, or if it was a coincidence. 

He was surprised she didn’t complain about it, considering that all of his other students, adults included, had. Every morning, before breakfast, he and the two youngest would walk to the pavilion, and meditate until breakfast was ready or they were too hungry to continue. Rohan always gave in before Nomi, but Tenzin could hear her stomach growl. Pema insisted she eat more, always filling her plate two or three times, and Nomi always cleared it.

A few times he had seen her crying, but she quickly wiped her face when he announced his presence, so he elected not to mention it. 

“Nomi, I wanted to try something.” They were walking around the temple, and Tenzin had been giving her a history lesson on the air nomads and their way of life. They were in front of a room full of instruments when he realized how he could further her airbending training. Spiritually, Tenzin was willing to admit Jinora could help more than he could. And he didn’t think Nomi would be capable of defensive air bending on the scale his other children were, simply because as mobile with a cane as she was, she couldn’t tell where people were unless they were making noise. 

Even aiming for a target or doing obstacle courses was more difficult until her awareness of her space got better. Playing the instruments would give her feedback that was useful to her, and hopefully encourage her to stay motivated. None of his children were interested in the artifacts in the room, and few of the new airbenders were either. He hoped that Nomi would enjoy doing something with her airbending.

“I have a lot of instruments that are played with air. Our meditation has been going really well,” Nomi preened under the compliment, a smile gracing her face, “And it’s time we started doing something with the air.”

“Really?” she sounded excited and Tenzin knew the idea was a good one. 

“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I was not serious.” He looked at the various instruments before deciding which to start with. “We’ll start with the tundrehorn. You’ll first have to learn how to project before we can create music, but it gives us a goal to works towards.”

She nodded eagerly. “We’ll work on projecting tomorrow morning, after our meditation and breakfast. I’ll see if Ikki can join us.” Tenzin had noticed that Nomi spent more time with his younger daughter than the rest of his children, and Ikki loved at the attention. 

“That would be fun!” Ikki was also skilled at correcting katas, something that would be helpful since Nomi couldn’t mimic what he was doing. They walked from the music room and continued their tour of the temple, the only noise the wood on stone as Nomi navigated through the halls. She kept one hand on the wall, fingers trailing behind her. 

“Tenzin?” she asked quietly during a lull in his lesson. 

He stopped what he was about to say. “Yes?”

“How did the mean— Chief Beifong know when the two girls showed up? Did she see them through the window?” Tenzin was confused. Lin hadn’t been to the island in at least two weeks, citing that she was busy and couldn’t make time. The last time she had been was the dinner, oh! When Korra and Asami were late.

“Lin can see through her feet. Sometimes she does it unintentionally. She must have sensed them coming.” Tenzin explained, remembering what he could about her seismic sense. He thought it had remained a Beifong family secret, but it was possible Toph had taught it to more officers than just Lin or had taught it to another blind earthbender. 

“Can she teach me to do that?” Nomi asked, excitement leaking into her voice. “I’m getting really good with my cane, but I think it would help if I could see with my feet too!” 

Tenzin frowned, “Lin uses her earthbending to see through the ground. I don’t think she could teach it to a non earthbender.” Not to mention, Lin didn’t seem like the teaching type. Toph had run a school and was similarly abrasive, but Lin was a category unto her own. 

“Oh.” Nomi responded, disappointed. “I thought she was a non bender.” 

He supposed that Nomi’s unfamiliarity with the metalbending police force, in addition to not seeing Lin’s uniform might give off that impression. She rarely had cause to bend on the island, anymore, except to dodge his children’s affection.

“No, she and her family are some of the best earthbenders in the world. Her niece, Opal, was a nonbender until Harmonic Convergence, and now she travels around the world helping others. You haven’t met her yet, but she is a very nice girl.” Tenzin assured. 

They rounded another corner, “Let’s go right. I want to show you some of these carvings that my father gave to me.”

Nomi perked back up at that.

Success. 

——

Chief Beifong was not a nice lady. Chief Beifong was not a nice lady and Nomi _had_ to talk to her. If she knew how to see with her bending, she might know how Nomi could use her, admittedly lacking, skills to do something similar.

She would have to wait until the next time Chief Beifong was on the island, which, according to Ikki, was random and rare. It didn’t matter. Eventually she would get to ask her for help.

Projecting lessons were going ... well, at least Nomi thought they were. She was able to collect the air around her and send it towards the wind chime that was set up on the edge of the platform. Tenzin wasn’t sighing at her, she was reasonably sure, since Ikki was always saying something immediately prior to the disappointed noise. 

Nomi was glad her lessons weren’t one on one. Ikki’s reassurances gave her confidence she originally lacked. 

They alternated days of projecting and focusing with days of meditation only, and Nomi was incredibly confident with both after three weeks. She wanted to try something with the tundrehorn but knew better than to ask. There had to be a reason that Tenzin didn’t want her progressing, and she would get better until he did. Nomi wouldn’t demand anything.

After their morning lesson was over, she and Rohan were exploring the island, giggling as they went barefoot through the grass. Occasionally Rohan would soar into the air before landing again, breeze flowing over both of them when he made contact with the ground. 

It normally wasn’t anything substantial, but the last time he landed, the breeze turned into a gust and Nomi misstepped trying to get her footing. She could feel her ankle twisting and heard a pop as she cried out in surprise, nearly dropping her cane. 

“What did you do?” Rohan asked her, intensely. 

Nomi righted herself quickly, not wanting him to be mad. She took a step, and hurriedly limped to her other foot, removing the weight. Tears filled her eyes at the pain. 

“It hurts.” she whimpered. “Rohan, it hurts.” She didn’t know what to do. They’d been walking around for over an hour, and even if she did know the paths back, which she did after five weeks of exploring with Tenzin’s children, she didn’t think she could physically make it.

“I’ll go get Mommy! She’ll know what to do!” Rohan assured her, and another breeze and he had flown back to the temple. She was alone. She tried to sit, gasping as she accidentally put weight on her ankle again. 

His parents were going to be so mad at her. She wouldn’t be able to practice and she would get behind. If they called a healer, that would be expensive and Nomi wasn’t supposed to do things like this. She wasn’t supposed to be a problem. They had filled out papers that said she stayed on the island, but Nomi didn’t know how easily reversible those were or if they were a threat that could be revoked when she was more trouble than she was worth. 

Nomi started crying in earnest, then, both from the throbbing in her ankle and the prospect of them getting rid of her. They’d let Chief Beifong take her away, because she was _bad_. She buried her hands into the dirt, gripping with all her strength. She couldn’t lose her temper, not now when she had already messed up so much. She tried the breathing exercises Tenzin taught her the first week, when she was sad and mad so often there was a perpetual breeze in her room. 

Her breath kept hitching, making them less effective than they could have been. She kept trying. She could hear footsteps running towards her. 

“Nomi!” Tenzin called out, and Nomi felt even worse. He worked during the day, when he wasn’t teaching any of them, and she had disrupted his work. Her Daddy didn’t like it when she bothered him, and Rohan was supposed to get _Pema_. She tried to curl into the ground as much as she could without hurting her ankle more than she already had. She wished she was an earthbender so the ground could swallow her whole and she could see with her feet.

“Nomi,” his voice was much closer this time, “Nomi, I’m going to pick you up, and carry you back to the temple.” She nodded, and two strong arms scooped her from the ground. He cradled her to his chest as he walked sure footedly back to the temple. “What were you doing?”

Nomi felt small. “We were exploring and I tripped and nothing was even there and I’m sorry!” she explained and apologized in one single breath, breath quickly turning uneven after that.

“It’s alright. I’ll call Kya and she’ll be out here this afternoon and fix you up.” Nomi didn’t know how she was going to make up for needing a healer’s services. “At least you didn’t break your leg like Jinora did when she was running around on the ice back home.” 

She sniffled. “Jinora broke her leg?”

“She must have been four? She wasn’t bending yet and Ikki had just been starting to walk when she slipped. My mother healed her, and our stay was extended a couple of weeks until there was hardly any evidence she had broken it in the first place.” He sounded fond of the memory, not angry, but Jinora was his eldest and so amazing. Not like Nomi. 

“Your mother is a healer?” Nomi asked.

Tenzin chuckled, “My mother is Master Katara, the best healer in the world. She taught my sister, who’s the second best healer in the world.” 

“Are you a waterbender too?” Nomi asked, distracted. 

“No, just Kya is. Bumi and I are airbenders. Bumi wasn’t an airbender until Harmonic Convergence, so it was just me and Dad until Jinora showed signs of bending.” Tenzin sounded sad and she was sorry she brought it up. 

“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say.

“We’ll go to my study. Bumi made me install a bench that you can lie on until Kya can get here.” The sound of his footsteps changed from the spongy softness of the grass and dirt to the slaps on the stone. In his study, he carefully set her down, removing her cane from her grasp and setting it somewhere nearby. 

He grabbed some of the leaves of paper that she and Meelo had been working on. “I know it’s not much, but while you wait, I thought you might want to try practicing reading these.”

Her reading wasn’t anywhere near enough to read without Meelo’s help, but she could practice feeling the letters and get used to their differences. She nodded and accepted the papers he put in her hand. She would practice until she could do it perfectly.

——

Kya was reading some delightfully trashy novel that Lin disapproved of when the phone in their apartment rang. Few people knew this number, so it was either Lin saying that she’d be late coming home _again_ , or Tenzin calling and bothering them.

She hoped it was the latter. She missed Lin, and recently her work had taken up so much of her time. Cycles were common, weeks would go by where Lin stayed late at the station, followed by a week or two she was able to come home on time or even take a few days off.

“Kya speaking.” She answered. She had used to answer the phone ‘Beifong residence, Kya speaking.’ but Lin had protested, saying it sounded like Kya was a servant and it was both Lin and Kya’s apartment, not just hers. Which was stupid since Kya still had a room on the island and Lin had lived here for over thirty years. It was Lin’s apartment and Kya was glad to be taking up space in it.

“Kya, it’s Tenzin.” Of course it was. He was always so formal on the phone, “Nomi and Rohan were playing and Nomi tripped. Her ankle is very swollen and she can’t walk on it.” 

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Kya liked Tenzin’s new little ward. She was always so quiet when Kya made it to family dinner, drowned out by her rambunctious nephews and her younger niece, but the girl seemed sweet, if unsure. Lin had told her the first day about her temper problems, but Kya dismissed the judgment as being too harsh. Her life had been upended without her knowledge and she was _seven_. A little bit of a temper was normal. Spirits above, Lin was a right terror when she was seven, the hypocrite. Spirits knew Lin’s temper was horrible _now_ at 57.

She wrote Lin a note in case she was home first, grabbed her bag, locked the door and headed to the island. Typically Kya preferred walking, even if it did take almost thirty minutes to get to the dock. Mindful of the fact a child was in pain, she took a cab and cut the journey into a fraction of the time. She was happy to see she wouldn’t need to wait for the ferry, as Donu was already at the dock. 

She greeted him, and asked about his daughter, who had joined the United Republic Forces and his son who had been determined to be a nonbending healer. The research that nonbenders had been doing with medicine was fascinating, creating treatments that she couldn’t typically help, like infections. Her healing could reduce a fever and clean a bit of the affected area, but ultimately it was up to the patient to fight it off after relief from their symptoms. Research from Ba Sing Se University and Caldera University showed medications could fight the infection while waterbenders treated the symptoms. Fascinating. 

Donu was more than happy to talk about his children as the boat crossed the water. When they reached the dock, she said her farewells, knowing she would see him in only a few hours.

She went straight to Tenzin’s study, giving a small knock as she opened the door. He smiled when he saw her. She looked around for her new patient and found Nomi running her fingers over the papers Lin had brought her, reclining on the bench against the wall. 

“I don’t suppose you already have a bucket ready?” Tenzin looked embarrassed at being so ill prepared. Classic Tenzin move. “Come on, let’s go to the fountain.” She gestured for him to get a move on.

Before he could stand, she heard a sharp intake of breath as the child swung her legs off the bench and tried standing. The girl had grabbed her cane from where it had rested against the wall, gripping it with white knuckles.

Horrified she rushed over. “Not you! Spirits, Nomi, sit down!” The girl did as she asked immediately. “Tenzin is going to carry you.” she glared at him and he moved faster, “You’ll make it worse if you walk on it.”

With a word of warning, Tenzin scooped her up and they started walking towards the fountain.

“So how did you mess up your ankle, kid?” The girl was uneasy around her, and Kya had been told she had an excellent bedside manner. 

“Me and Rohan were playing and I tripped on nothing.” She whispered, wrinkling her nose. 

“At least you were having fun! Did Tenzin tell you about the time he broke his nose doing absolutely nothing?” Tenzin glared at her, and she grinned wildly. Nomi shook her head. “This little bookworm was so engrossed in his readings that he fell asleep. His head hit the table so hard, his nose broke. It’s still crooked because he wouldn’t let Mom touch it.”

“My nose isn’t crooked.” Tenzin argued, and, yep, she still had it in her to pester him.

“It is, Tenny. It’s okay. I bet Pema thinks it makes you look handsome!” They made it to the fountain and he carefully set Nomi on the edge, putting her feet in the water. 

She turned her attention back to Nomi, “Have you ever been seen by a waterbending healer before?” The kid shook her head, “Alright, so it feels a little weird, and usually pretty cold, but Tenzin is going to hold your hand the entire time and if it hurts you need to tell me, because it means I’m doing something wrong. Okay?”

“Okay.” Nomi’s voice was small as Tenzin delicately grasped her hand.

“First I’m going to use the water to see how deep your injury goes. I’m hoping you just sprained it at the worst.” She started manipulating the flow of the water and felt it’s energy seep into the tiny ankle. She concentrated and couldn’t find any broken bones, just some ligaments that were overstretched.

“It tickles.” Nomi giggled. 

“That’s good! It means it’s working right. I don’t feel any broken bones, so I think it’s just a bad sprain. Next is the healing part. You said that it tickles right now, and that feeling is going to become more intense, and it’ll get colder, but shouldn’t be uncomfortable, just weird. Just relax and keep your ankle underwater.” Nomi nodded in understanding.

Kya focused her mind on moving the water around, and the glow indicated everything was going well. She could feel the tears in the ligaments mending themselves, and finally, after she couldn’t find any more damage to work on, Kya stopped. 

“Alright, I think we’ve fixed you up. Can you stand on it and let me know if you feel anything?” 

Nomi swung her legs over the ledge, and stood, much more sure of herself than she had been only a few minutes previous. “It feels like normal!” she said excitedly. 

“That’s good! It means I did my job right. Be careful the next few days when you’re walking, and if you’re feeling any pain have Tenzin call me again.” Nomi fidgeted with her dress, arms almost reaching out before falling back to her side. 

It reminded Kya of when Lin wanted a hug but didn’t want to ask. “You mind if I get a hug, Nomi? It’ll make me feel better if I know you’re all strong again.” She nodded enthusiastically. Tenzin let go of her hand as Kya knelt down and wrapped her arms around the tiny figure before her. 

“Thanks for fixing my ankle, Miss Kya.” Nomi mumbled into her shoulder. 

“Anything for family.” Nomi stiffened, and Kya was worried she said the wrong thing, before the girl smiled so big she could have lit up a room. “If you want, you can even call me Aunt Kya like the rest of the kids do. You don’t have to call me Miss.” she said conspiratorially, like it was a secret Nomi was being let in on.

“Okay, Aunt Kya.” Nomi whispered into her, a small smile gracing her face.

“Do you want to show me what you’ve been working on before the rest of them realize I’m here? I heard you’ve been making the wind chimes sing, and soon you’ll be playing the tundrehorn.” Nomi nodded. Tenzin handed her her cane, and Kya followed her to the pavilion where she knew the kids practiced. 

Yeah, she was going to tell Lin she was wrong later. 

——

Chief Beifong still didn’t make it to the island for another month. Aunt Kya tried coming out at least once a week, and Nomi couldn’t monopolize her time the way the others could, but she was excited to show someone new her playing the tundrehorn. She wasn’t super great at it, and only knew one note of the 10 it could play, but it was loud and Pema started using specific rhythms to indicate to the others that dinner was ready. 

The others asked about their Aunt Lin, and Kya always answered their questions, so Nomi was hopeful that she could get the same response. 

“Aunt Kya?” She asked. 

There was silence then, “Oh! Nomi, what can I help you with?”

“Do you know when Chief Beifong will next be on the island?” She tried not to sound too eager, but she wanted to talk to her. 

“Sweetheart, I don’t know Lin’s schedule anymore than you do. She’s been working a lot, lately.” Nomi nodded. She hadn’t expected anything else.

When Chief Beifong finally came to the island for the third time since Nomi had been there, Nomi didn’t get the opportunity to talk to her. Meelo demanded her attention, and her questions could wait. She knew three notes on the tundrehorn now, and only the wind chime she was aiming at would make noise when she practiced with Tenzin. 

The fourth time Chief Beifong visited and Nomi didn’t find an opening to talk to her, she decided enough was enough. She’d been practicing her airbending and her reading and her air nation history for four months. Meelo said she was pretty good at the bump machine, considering that she couldn’t read standard characters first. She understood that Chief Beifong’s actual family was going to receive priority attention on her rare visits to the island, so she resolved to write a letter and give it to Aunt Kya. 

She drafted it in her head over the course of the next week. 

_Chief Beifong,_

_Tenzin told me you can see through your earthbending. Can we talk about this and see if it can work for me?_

_I understand if you are busy._

_Nomi_

Satisfied with her draft, she went to Tenzin’s study and practiced on the machine. Meelo had taught her a lot, and she was confident she could type something so short. She would use the stamp that Chief Beifong had made to sign it, to show that she was serious.

——

Lin looked at the letter in front of her. It had been a long time since she practiced reading the dots, and she hadn’t realized how rusty she was. 

The kid’s name was upside down at the bottom. She clearly used the stamp Lin had made for her, but looking back Lin hadn’t added an indicator of which end was the top. She would fix it the next time she was on the island, which would apparently be sooner rather than later. 

The letter itself was difficult to read, not because of her rusty skills, but the girl’s poor reading level. It was to be expected, she had only been trying for four months, but Lin wasn’t particularly gifted at childspeak.

_Chief Byfongu_

_Tenzin told I you eyes with earth. Can you talk and work me?_

_I get when you busy._

_Nomi_

Lin didn’t have a machine to send a dotted letter back, so she moved instead towards her phone. Not to mention she didn’t think the response would be coherent to her, and she’d be in the same situation she was in now.

“What did she say in her letter?” Kya asked, nosy. 

“I think something about my bending. And my eyes. She knows dirt can’t heal like water, right?” Lin didn’t know what misconceptions existed in the backward town the girl was from. 

She dialed the number for Tenzin’s study. Maybe the girl could explain when speaking better than she did in writing.

It almost ringed out, before panting was heard on the other line. “Meelo here, state your grievances.”

Drat. “Meelo, go find Nomi, I need to talk to her.”

“Aunt Lin! Did you find something about her parents?” Meelo asked excitedly. 

“What? No! It’s about something else. Go get her.” This kid. Eleven years old and a pain in her ass. 

“Fine, Aunt Lin, but you owe me.”

Lin didn’t yell into the receiver that she didn’t owe him anything, but it was a near thing. 

She waited for a few minutes, then a timid “Chief Beifong? Did you get my letter?” came through. 

“Yes. Your letter. I wanted to talk to you about it. I didn’t exactly understand what you want from me out of it.” She tried to be nicer than when she was talking to Meelo, who already knew her abrasive personality and knew not to take it as a personal insult. She didn’t know if Nomi still only referred to her as the mean lady, and it wasn’t something she liked to dwell on. 

“Oh. I.” The halting voice on the other end almost caused Lin to snap at her that she shouldn’t be wasting Lin’s valuable time, but she refrained. “Tenzin told me you could see with your bending.”

“Yeah, and last I checked you were an air bender so it’s not going to help you.” She explained. She thought she and Tenzin already had this conversation.

“Do you think I could make the air work like the earth does for you?” 

And yeah, maybe, but Lin wasn’t going to be any help with that.

“Nomi, I don’t know, and I don’t think I’ll be any help to you to find out. I learned almost fifty years ago, and I’ve never tried to teach anyone else to do it.” Lin channeled all the patience she could, but this kid took everything personally. 

“Oh.” There was some silence, then, “I’m sorry for bothering you, Chief Beifong. I won’t do it again.” Lin liked when Jinora was respectful like this, but coming out of this seven year old, it felt wrong. 

“You’re not bothering me, kid.” Only a little bit of a lie, but Lin really hated being the mean lady. She sighed, then said, “I’ll tell you what: I’ll think about what techniques might transfer from earth to air and I’ll let you know next time I’m on the island. You’re going to have to figure it out from there.” She would think about it. Lin loved puzzles, and it was one of the joys she found in being a detective. She hadn’t given her seismic sense that much thought in decades, and it would probably be good for her review it. 

And it was something she could work on during those Spirits damned meetings she was required to attend and at which she said nothing. 

“Thank you, Chief Beifong! I promise I’ll try my best!” Lin was glad this was over the phone. She wouldn’t have hidden her distaste of this enthusiasm well.

“Right. Well. Have a good rest of your day.”

“Bye!” Lin hung up the phone. 

Kya looked at her. “So, did you figure out what the letter was about?”

“She wants me to teach her to see. I think I volunteered.” Lin said in disbelief. That was unlike her to promise time with a child. 

Kya smiled at her, “Good! You’ll be Aunt Lin in no time.”

“Stop it, it’s bad enough Su and Tenzin’s brats already call me that. I don’t need anymore.” 

Kya could see her small smile and knew she was lying. Lin knew she was lying too. 

“You know, if you visited them more, you’d already have that status.”

Lin threw a pillow at her.

——

Jinora was so busy, she’d barely gotten to spend time with the new addition to their family. Her and Kai spent most of their waking hours helping Korra and preventing chaos in different parts of the world. 

She was older now, older than her grandparents had been when _they_ saved the world and almost as old as her mom was when she met Dad. Tenzin still tried to be protective of her but Mom was putting more and more effort into making him let go, and Jinora was all the better for it. She loved her newfound freedoms, loved that Kai was starting to be invited to dinner with them instead of being left to his own devices, loved the difference she was making in the world.

So no, she didn’t have a lot of time to spend with Nomi, but she tried to make sure it counted when she did. 

“Nomi!” The girl stopped in the hall, “Has anyone shown you the bison stables yet?”

Surely someone had, in the past five months, taken her to the bison stables. 

“No. They said it wasn’t safe for me to go alone, and Ikki and Meelo and Rohan don’t want to spend time there.” None of her siblings had their own bison yet, so it made sense, but to not even introduce her to them? Well, Jinora would take care of that not. They probably avoided it to get out of cleaning duty as much as possible. 

“Do you want to go meet the bison?” Toph had said they were smelly and gross, but surely she hadn’t always thought so. They were soft and the first airbenders, and Jinora had loved napping with Oogi before she had Pepper. 

Nomi nodded eagerly. “Come on! Do you need me to guide you or can you follow?”

“Tell me when to turn, but I can follow the path by myself.” Jinora nodded. 

“Okay. We need to turn around here, the stables are on the other side of the temple.” She started walking, surreptitiously making sure Nomi followed. 

“Has Dad told you about the sky bison?” Jinora queried. 

“He said that they were the first airbenders, and that people learned from them!” She recited dutifully. 

“Yeah, but anything else?” At Nomi’s suddenly downtrodden look she hurried, “He doesn’t think they’re as cool as they actually are, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he glossed over them in favor of other airbender history.”

They reached a corner and then, “Make a right here.” Nomi turned and Jinora continued, “If an airbender chooses, they can try and bond with a sky bison and they become their companion for life. My bison is Pepper. She has spots on her nose, like pieces of pepper! And Dad has Oogi. He’s a lot older than the rest of the bison here.” Nomi nodded. 

At the bison stables, Nomi appeared overwhelmed by the smell. It reminded Jinora of wooly pigs and ostrich horses. That made sense, considering they were all animals. Maybe that was the only creatures Nomi had been around before. 

“Do you want to pet Pepper? Then you can see how big she is. She’s taller than me!” Jinora was the tallest of Tenzin’s children, and was taller than even her mom. 

“Yes!” she said earnestly. 

“Okay, hold my hand. I don’t want you to accidentally hit her with your cane.” Nomi nodded, holding out her arm. Jinora wrapped her hand around her wrist and slowly pulled her towards Pepper. There was a loud groan from the animal, and Jinora greeted her bison. Nomi was guided closer until she felt the soft fur beneath her hands. Jinora let go of her, and she reached both hands up to fully immerse herself in the soft fur. 

“She’s so fluffy!” Nomi cried out. Jinora smiled. The tiny girl pushed her whole body against her bison, and then “Do you want to touch her nose? It’s a totally different texture.”

An enthusiastic nod, Jinora grasped her hand again, and pulled her toward’s Pepper’s face. “Pepper, my new sister, Nomi, is going to touch your nose. You haven’t met her yet, but she’s amazing!” When Nomi’s fingers grazed Pepper’s nose, she wrinkled her nose. 

“It’s wet! And cold.” Pepper huffed. 

“Yeah it is, but it’s soft too in its own way.” Nomi nodded slowly in agreement, stroking Pepper’s nose gently. 

Jinora thought for a few moments. She had been on the island for a couple days now, and Pepper was used to flying often. 

“Do you want to go flying?” Pepper made an excited noise and Nomi wasn’t far behind her, still petting the bison. 

“Can we? I’ve never been!” And seriously? It was a rite of passage all the new airbenders got to experience early in their training. 

“Of course!” Before she could move Nomi so she could get the saddle on Pepper, the bison opened her mouth and licked Nomi, who shrieked. Jinora couldn’t help laughing. 

“What was that?”

“Pepper licked you. It means she likes you!” She gently grabbed the younger one’s arm, “Can you stand here? I have to put the saddle on, and I don’t want to accidentally hit you.” Nomi agreed seriously, fidgeting in excitement. 

Jinora used a gust of air to carry the saddle to Pepper, and starting fastening the straps. She paused and asked, “Do you want to help secure the saddle? I have one strap left.” Nomi walked towards her, sure in her steps, one hand outstretched. Jinora met with her halfway, and guided her towards the buckle, putting the cloth in Nomi’s other hand. 

“Put the strap through the buckle, and before you fasten it, check that it’s not twisted.” Nomi concentrated as she threaded the strap, then traced the strap to underneath Pepper. Not finding any twists, she fastened the buckle in the exact right hole. 

Jinora was impressed. She didn’t think Nomi would have been strong enough to pull the strap tight enough. “How did you know which spot to put it in?” she asked, curious. 

“This one is stretched.” she said, pointing to the girth. Jinora felt silly, of course the one she used the most was stretched. 

“That’s so cool! I’m going to go get the reins, and put them on Pepper’s horns.”

“She has horns?”

“Yes! You can help me with that too. Jinora ran to get the reins, and when she came back, Nomi was by Pepper’s head giving her scratches. 

“Both male and female sky bison have horns on the tops of their heads. I need to be on top of her head to put the reins on, so I’ll have to pick you up, okay?” Jinora warned.

“Okay.” She maneuvered Nomi so she was clinging to Jinora’s back, then jumped and settled to the top of Pepper’s head. Nomi slid off her back and scooched to sit next to her.

“If you reach to your right, you’ll feel her horn.” Nomi did as she instructed and then, 

“It’s so big!” she was excited her new family member was enjoying this experience. She had worried when she had first seen Nomi’s expression at the smell, but it was obvious Nomi would soon be escaping to the bison stables like Jinora had when she was younger. 

Jinora laughed again, moving to secure one end of the reins around each horn. Nomi fastened the buckle around the second horn. 

“We can’t both be on her head when she’s flying, so you’ll have to sit in the saddle. If something goes wrong, or you’re scared, just tell me and I’ll come back there. We can talk once we’re in the air.” she reassured. The two of them had performed many rescue missions, and Pepper was a pro at navigating without Jinora guiding her every move. 

She moved Nomi to the saddle and instructed her to hold on to the handle. She gripped it tightly and Jinora walked Pepper out to the courtyard before mounting. 

“Pepper, yip yip!”

With a groan the bison rose, and Jinora breathed with the wind. She loved flying with Pepper. She guided them toward the mountains near the city. 

Nomi was laughing behind her, and Jinora looked back and made sure the laughter wasn’t hysterical. At the smile and singular waving arm, Jinora turned her attention back to their flight. She knew of a field by the mountains where Pepper could graze and they could relax in the grass. 

Pointing Pepper in the right direction, she jumped backed to the saddle, next to Nomi. 

“So, how’s it going?” Nomi gasped. 

“When did you get there? I’m having so much fun! It’s so windy here! Where are we going?”

“I just popped back for a couple minutes. There’s a park outside the city in the mountains that I wanted to visit.” Jinora explained, smiling. Nomi was always so serious, and it was good to see her let go.

“How soon until we get there?”

“Not long, maybe twenty minutes from the island. I have to go back and steer Pepper, but I’ll be back soon!” She spotted the park and directed the bison down. They landed gracefully in the field, and Jinora went back to help Nomi out of the saddle. 

The girl landed on the ground, then clenched and unclenched her hands. “We forgot my cane.” 

“We won’t forget it next time, I promise. I’ll hold your hand the entire time we’re here. There’s nothing but grass and a few trees, so you’re not missing much.” She pulled Nomi down against one of the tree trunks. They’d stay here for a little while before heading back to the island. 

“How did you find this place?”

Jinora explained that she was exploring a few years ago, trying to find somewhere to hide from Ikki and Meelo so she could meditate and go into the spirit world. 

“Can we meditate for a little bit? I was supposed to do it this afternoon, but the bison stables sounded a lot more fun.” Nomi looked a little sheepish.

Jinora agreed, and with a slight breeze blowing over the field, the repetitive noises of Pepper’s grazing, and the consistent breathing beside her, slipped into a trance. 

——

Nomi was giddy. The past few days had been wonderful! She had thought Chief Beifong was going to reject the idea of helping her, but she promised to think of ways Nomi could see with her airbending. 

And the Jinora had taken her to meet the bison, who she had heard so much about, and they went flying to a park and she got to practice meditating with _Jinora_ who was so cool and she considered Nomi to be her _sister_. Even if it was just to introduce her to Pepper, it came out so naturally that it had to be true. She had even said that Nomi was amazing. 

She promised that they would do it again soon and even Tenzin’s worried scolding when they got back was worth it. He wouldn’t be really mad since she was with Jinora, and she got permission to visit the bison by herself. He had introduced her to Oogi, and while he didn’t call her his daughter, she couldn’t miss the affectionate hand on her shoulder. 

She was sore after practicing forms all day, and she couldn’t stop the smile on her face. Pema was finally willing to let her help clear dishes and even if they still put food on her plate, she had since realized that Pema did that with all her children. Ikki started styling her hair with buns and braids instead of Pema doing it every morning. Rohan still meditated with her every morning and Meelo was still helping her reading. He wrote her a short story about Poki and berries so she could practice.

She clutched her badgermole tightly as she fell asleep. 

——

Six months after Tenzin first asked for her help with his new blind child, Lin finally had something of substance that her “unique upbringing” could provide. If Tenzin had talked around, he could have gotten her a stamp or a cane or a braille machine, and he didn’t need her for that.

She went to the island with Kya on her day off. The waterbender had been complaining about how infrequently Lin went to family dinner, and she was _right_ as much as it irked her. She was going a fraction of what she used to, and she missed chatting with adults who weren’t Kya or her coworkers. 

She was trying to gently push more responsibilities on Saikhan and making him make decisions regarding stake outs and operation budgeting. He was proving remarkably uncooperative, and she wondered if she needed to look for an alternate replacement. He had the most experience, but she couldn’t tell if it was incompetence or unwillingness to step on her toes that halted his decisions. She would work on it. 

Between the uptick of theft and her shifting managerial duties, she found it harder than ever to slip away. She tried to make time for a date night with Kya once a week, but occasionally slipped. 

During her meetings, she had thought about what she knew of airbending. It was free, not solid like earthbending. Airbending was more spiritual, and air was _everywhere_.

Her and Kya stepped off the boat and walked towards the temple. The kids normally greeted them at the dock, but were no where to be found. Kya had told them she was coming today, but Lin wasn’t sure if they knew she was there too. 

A loud horn sounded throughout the island, and Kya perked up. 

“Nomi is practicing her music!” And the little girl made _that_ much noise? It reminded Lin of the foghorns on cargo ships. “Let’s go. I know where we can find her, so you two can make up after your rocky start.”

“We didn’t... we didn’t have a rocky start!” Lin sputtered. 

“Okay, mean lady.” Lin was never going to live that down. This kid could call her Aunt Lin and Kya would still tease her for being so grumpy the kid thought she was mean. 

Kya led them to the courtyard she had seen Tenzin practice in as a kid, and where she had watched his children gain mastery in as well. All around the stone floor were wind chimes on posts, and in the center was a huge horn. Nomi stood in the center, moving more gracefully than Lin thought possible for a seven year old, let alone a blind seven year old. Meelo and Rohan had always been rough with their movements, and she never knew Jinora or Ikki when they were that young and just learning. 

“Nomi!” Kya called, and the motions suddenly stopped. 

“Aunt Kya!” The kid screamed, walking quickly towards her voices, arms outstretched. Kya quickly rushed towards the girl and scooped her in a hug. 

“Guess who I brought with me?” Kya teased, winking at Lin. 

“Is Uncle Bumi back from the South Pole?” She asked excitedly. Lin was surprised she wasn’t the kid’s first thought when she had explicitly requested Lin visit and teach her.

Kya had told her Bumi insisted on being Uncle Bumi immediately upon meeting the child. She loved hearing his stories and he loved having a new set of ears to test them on. 

“No, Bumi’s still with Mom, but this person is even better.” Nomi’s brow furrowed at this explanation and Kya turned towards Lin, “You want to introduce yourself?” 

“This is ridiculous.” she grumbled, then, “Hello, Nomi, it’s Chief Beifong.”

“Are you here to teach me?” She asked, her childishness from when she was talking with Kya gone.

“What else would I be here for, kid?” Lin said drily. Nomi fidgeted and wiggled until Kya put her down. 

“How do you want to start?” All serious, and yeah, maybe Lin had been harsh with the kid originally.

“Can you show me what you can do with your bending now? I didn’t learn until I could already do the basics.” Nomi nodded and walked back to the courtyard. 

She played a song on the giant horn that echoed on the cliffs and was loud enough that she thought she thought her ears were ringing when she was done. Then she said, “Pick a wind chime. They’re numbered.”

Lin counted ten of the decorations around the perimeter and said, “Seven.” 

Nomi turned and pushed her arms forward, rattling the wind chime behind her with a disciplined gust of air. Lin nodded, and Nomi came back to her and Kya. 

“I can also meditate for a long time.” she finished. 

Lin laughed, “Not bad, kid. It’s not the basics of airbending I’m familiar with, but clearly you have talent.” No surprise Tenzin didn’t let the girl beat herself up with that board exercise that Korra destroyed her first year. 

Nomi smiled, and Lin almost missed it, with the girl not looking at her. 

“I’m going to leave you two to,” Kya waved her hand, “this, and go find the rest of the family. Holler if you need anything!” 

Nomi waved and Lin jerked her chin. Kya walked back towards the temple.

“Let’s sit for this, you want a chair?” Lin asked, making herself one. Nomi nodddd, and Lin stomped again, making a stool a foot behind Nomi. “It’s right behind you.”

The child slowly stepped backwards until her heel hit the rock, then promptly sat. 

“I’m going to tell you how _my_ seismic sense works, how I learned, and then we’ll think of ways to apply the same concepts to you, alright?” Lin started. She practiced this speech during the last meeting she had. She didn’t want to have to do this more than once. 

Nomi nodded, enraptured. 

“Everything touches the earth, and when it moves it causes vibrations. Even if it seems stationary it might move because of the wind. I have to stomp pretty hard to see far, more than fifteen feet in any direction. It’s not something I use every second of the day like my mother does, or like you might eventually so.” She explained. 

“When I stomp, I feel how those vibrations travel, and I can sense pretty far, but the further away, the fuzzier the picture becomes. It’s not infallible, since there might be some things, like wood, which don’t vibrate very well or things that are suspended that touch the earth through ropes.” 

The kid appeared deep in thought. Aang had told her how stubborn Toph had been to learn earthbending under her grandparents’ overbearing thumb, and Nomi would need to be similarly persistent if she was going to get anything useful out of this conversation. 

Lin was rooting for her. Quietly. Inside her head. 

“How did you learn?”

“Mom sealed us in a cave with some rations and told me I had to figure out how to get us out of there.” Lin said, recalling how terrified she had been of disappointing her mom. Su was on the island at the time, Katara watching her for the weekend because Toph couldn’t have a baby with them. 

Nomi blanched. “Well, I’m not going to do that to _you_ , so no need to look so horrified.”

“Oh.” Spirits, this kid really did think the worst of her and still mustered the courage to write her a (horribly misspelled) letter. The child relaxed significantly. 

“So you just go,” she stood and stomped the ground, before returning to the stool, “And feel it?”

“Yes. I’d demonstrate, but you’d hear a thud and then nothing would happen.” Nomi pouted. 

There was silence for a few minutes, as every so often Nomi looked like she wanted to say something. “Did your mom have to stomp a lot when she was learning to see?”

“I don’t know. We never talked about it.” She and her mom had never really talked about anything. 

“Instead of stomping, do you think I could blow a breeze through and see if I can find objects?” Lin thought for a few moments before nodding. 

A few more moments of quiet and she corrected herself, “Possibly.”

“I don’t know how to test it.” 

Lin contemplated for a moment, then lifted a rock and hovered it five feet away and behind them. 

“I picked up a rock. Don’t move from around here and see if you can sense it’s direction.” Another furrowed brow and then a slight breeze washed over the courtyard. The wind chimes tinkled pleasantly. 

Another breeze. More chimes. 

Another wind gust, harder. The chimes were louder. 

Another wind gust, and Lin’s hair whipped in front of her face. 

“Okay, well, that’s not working.” She tried to redirect their conversation.

“No! I can get it! I just need more time, please! I can’t hear anything with the chimes.” She wailed. Dramatic much? It wasn’t like Lin expected her to get this in a day. It had taken an entire weekend of being in the dark before Lin realized that they were twenty feet from the entrance of the cave and her mom had known the entire time. 

“Are you listening or are you feeling the wind? Listening isn’t going to work, you’ll have to feel the air form around the object.” She corrected and Nomi ducked her head. 

“Try again. Gentle winds and feel around to see if the air stops or reroutes when it hits an object. You’re not a squirrel-bat, so don’t listen for things. Don’t be so angry, this isn’t going to be easy.” She ignored the irony in her telling someone to not be angry. 

A small breeze emanated from the girl in front, and the chimes made noise again. 

Another gentle breeze, more chimes, and Nomi turned and pointed at the rock. 

“It’s right there.” Lin felt the shock on her face and was glad the kid couldn’t see it. 

Lin dropped the rock and meshed it back into the floor. 

“Not bad, kid. Want to try again?” Lin asked, impressed. 

“What’s a squirrel-bat?” Nomi said at the same time. 

“Tell you what: I’ll make you a squirrel-bat statue if you can find all the rocks today.” Nomi nodded excitedly.

Lin lifted another stone, smaller than the first, and held it behind her.

It only took three tries that time. 

Lin smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love all of the characters featured in this story so much. I feel like there’s been Bumi erasure and I will be rectifying that in the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I gave myself tendonitis by writing so much on my phone so I switched to my computer.
> 
> In this chapter: A gift, a misunderstanding, Nomi saves Tenzin's dumb bald head, and some misplaced distress.
> 
> As always, if I've written something truly horrible/offensive, please let me know immediately so I can fix it. I don't beta any of my works, so some things may have skipped my attention.

Nomi kept her squirrel-bat statue on the dresser in her room. She liked to pretend it was a birthday gift from Chief Beifong and that the woman was proud of her progress. 

In the past few months, she had moved from the guest quarters where she stayed the first week to Tenzin’s side of the island. She understood that since she was his ward, he was keeping an eye on her. The dress she had worn when her parents left here was one of the few personal items from Before that she had in the room. Her parents had overpacked and she didn’t realize at the time, but nearly all her clothes had been included and left behind with her. Her badgermole and blanket were the only other remnants of Before.

Regular meals meant that she was growing, and she could feel her pants and tunics not fit her quite as well anymore and she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to lose one of the few things she had left. Her lessons told her that air nation peoples didn’t keep things that they no longer needed, and she hated that she was going to have to give away her things. Pema had asked her if she wanted some of the clothes that Ikki and Jinora had outgrown, and she had vehemently denied it. If she accepted the new clothes, then she would have to have to give away her old ones, and that was unacceptable. 

She didn’t tell anyone but Chief Beifong, Aunt Kya, and Uncle Bumi what the two of them were practicing and asked them to keep it a secret. Nomi didn’t want Tenzin to be disappointed with her if she couldn’t be as good as Chief Beifong. She hoped that eventually he would let her learn the same things his other children were learning. She had moved on from the tundrehorn to the poriflute, which was significantly more difficult but had a much higher range of notes. 

She thought that maybe one day she could glide. 

——

Bumi adored his new niece. He was determined to encourage her to come out of her shell the first quiet dinner she had spent with them, and insisted that she call him Uncle Bumi when the news arrived that she was now a permanent member of their family. 

He was an old man, but she was a tiny slip of a thing and he had immediately insisted on giving her piggyback rides and carrying her on his shoulders. She hadn’t said no to either, and when she was on his shoulders he could feel her playing with his hair. 

Her quiet “Can I braid your hair?” had surprised him during the first month she was there, but he immediately agreed under the stipulation she would listen to his stories. She giggled and nodded and she sat on a bench and he sat on the ground. She sectioned his hair and he started telling her the kid friendly versions of his various exploits in the United Forces, drawing louder and louder laughs. 

The first time BumJu settled in Nomi’s lap as the two of them had a picnic with Rohan, she was confused. She had only been on the island for three weeks, and no one had told her about the spirits.

“Are there pets on the island?” she asked, tentatively touching the teal spirit. 

“Pets? That’s BumJu!” Bumi cried. 

“Who’s BumJu?” 

“He’s a spirit and my best friend!” Bumi smiled at the spirit, who chirped in response. 

Even after he visited Mom for a few months, she was still excited for him to come back. Kya told him she was asking about him, and he started to call the island and talk to her, thinking she might be lonely without him. 

On his return, almost nine months after she joined the family, she greeted him with an enthusiastic hug. His other nieces and nephews were there to greet him, but they all disappeared soon after. He had improved his catching skills while he was away, and Bumi was determined to beat his nephews at hogmonkey in the middle, but it could wait until he was in tip top shape after a day or two of recovering from the boat. 

“Uncle Bumi!” Nomi whispered conspiratorially, “I want to show you something! You can’t tell anyone, promise?”

“Of course I can keep a secret! What is it?” He asked, curious as to what she had gotten up to in the past few months that was worthy of a secret.

“Not here.” She said, taking his hand and pulling him along. Her tiny hands barely wrapped around his fingers. She took them to the spot where the two of them had had their picnic and he had to admit it was more secluded than the temple or the dock would have been.

There was a slight breeze that immediately stopped, and Nomi asked, “Is there anyone around?”

Bumi turned his head back and forth, looking, before, “Just you and me, buddy.”

“Okay, and it’s a _secret_ , you can’t tell _anyone_.” she stressed, sticking out her pinky. He curled his larger finger around her tiny one.

“Your secret is safe with me.” he swore. He was good at secret keeping, especially if it led to mischief.

“Aunt Lin has been teaching me how to see.” Nomi said excitedly. 

Which... what? Bumi was hung up on the beginning of her confession. Aunt Lin? _Aunt Lin_? The mean lady, surly Lin Beifong had turned into _Aunt Lin_? Nomi had been keeping secrets from him on their phone calls. He bet Lin was thrilled by this progression— Kya said she was upset by being called the mean lady. 

Then the second part of her sentence hit him. Lin Beifong was teaching Nomi to _see_?

“Are you a little earthbender too?” He asked, amused. 

“No! But she’s been teaching me about what her mom used to see and helping me use it with my airbending!” She whispered excitedly. 

“So how good are you now, kid?” Bumi asked. It hadn’t occurred to him to ask Lin about perceiving with bending, and he doubted Tenzin thought of it either. Aunt Toph was always impossible to hide from, and if Lin was half as good at the whole seismic thing as she was, Nomi was in good hands. 

Nomi frowned in concentration, then, “Hold up your hand with some fingers. I can tell you how many.”

He held up two fingers, his index and pinky. 

Another small breeze and then a confident, “Two!” Bumi considered that the breeze when they first sat down wasn’t entirely natural either.

He grabbed Nomi in a hug, squeezing her tight, the kid hugging back just as fiercely. “Not bad, kid! How long have you been practicing?”

“Aunt Lin and I started almost three months ago. She’s only been out a couple times since then, but I’ve been working on it every day.” She said proudly. 

“How long has she been ‘Aunt Lin’?” he teased Nomi, who suddenly got very stiff and withdrew from his arms. 

“You don’t think she’ll be mad, do you?” Nomi asked worriedly, wringing her hands, “She didn’t say I could but she’s family, right? So I’m supposed to. And she made me a statue.” _Everyone else does._ Bumi could hear the end of her rambling. 

Bumi tried brushing away his youngest niece’s fears, “I’m sure Lin will be thrilled at being called Aunt Lin. She has a really grumpy exterior, but she’s a total softie for family.”

“Are you sure?” she asked uncertainly.

“Between you and me, _I’ve_ know Lin the longest of any of us, and she only makes sculptures for those she really likes.” He said, tickling Nomi in an attempt to bring her out of this sudden funk.

A high pitched giggle erupted from his niece. Bumi considered it a success.

——

Nomi practiced seeing with the air all the time. She would send gentle waves of air from her in all directions. She tried to not rely on her cane when she did it, but after tripping on a tree root she decided it was better to combine the two. She could tell when someone was nearby and when they waved their arms. She didn’t even have to send her own wind out to do it— they created motion of their own and she discovered that air moving by itself functioned just as well as her moving the air. 

Nomi had practiced with Aunt Lin multiple times since that first day, and she kept providing tips to extend her senses farther. Nomi could only go about ten feet in any direction before her view got fuzzier. Aunt Lin suggested that she slowly work back from needing to supply her own wind and instead use the air that was already there and feel how it settled against her surroundings.

Nomi was trying, but it was so much harder and she often grew frustrated and stalked down to the bison stables to sit with Oogi and Pepper. The only bison she avoided was Juicy. It had only taken one interaction with her snot before Nomi swore to herself that she would never again be around her without Opal there watching. 

She still hadn’t told anyone besides her Aunts and Uncle. If she stopped making progress she didn’t want to hear her sibling’s disappointment, or Tenzin’s sigh. 

——

Lin’s visit to the island tonight was a surprise. She had already told Tenzin she was unable to make it, but her last meeting was canceled and Lin jumped at the opportunity to leave the station. Four years ago, she would have taken the opportunity to work on more paperwork, but she had recently enacted a policy where the captains reviewed requests before she did, and she only looked at the ones that had received preliminary approval. It cut the work on her desk in half, and she was annoyed she hadn’t done it sooner. When the department was under workaholic Beifong rule, like it had been almost its entire life, it didn’t need this delegation of tasks because her or Toph did all of it. 

She didn’t trust any of her officers to devote their every waking moment to it like her and Toph, and policy changes had to be implemented before she handed it off to someone else so she could test if they were good or not. Probably _not_ Saikhan, considering his incompetence, but one of her other officers. Kiko had a good head on his shoulders, even if he was nosy as hell. 

It was a work in progress. 

She knew she would only be a few minutes late for dinner, and her presence was welcome, even if it was a surprise and a late one at that. Donu was waiting at the pier, and she boarded the ferry. She arrived on the island in uniform, but she’d rather show up in the wrong outfit than miss out entirely. When Korra had first arrived, she made dinner at least once every two weeks, but since Harmonic Convergence it grew more and more difficult for her to make time.

She bid Donu farewell, then made her way to the personal side of the temple. She walked in the doorway, and Meelo snapped his head up. “Aunt Lin! You made it!”

All the kids, Nomi included to Lin’s satisfaction, exclaimed “Aunt Lin!” _Take that, Kya, the kid likes me!_ Lin thought, internally pumping her fist. She smiled softly at the kids.

Bumi, who was apparently back from his stint at the South Pole, cried “Linny!”

“Don’t call me that.” She snapped at him, moving to sit next to Kya. He knew how much she hated the nickname. 

“I’m sorry I’m late, but I had a meeting canceled at the last minute and thought i’d make the most of it.” She explained. 

“You’re always welcome here, Lin.” Pema assured her warmly. 

She looked at Bumi and then at the spirit on his shoulder, “Bumi, what the flameo are you wearing? What did you do to that spirit?”

Both of them were wearing what looked like matching sweaters of various shades of green. She didn’t even know spirits could wear clothes.

Bumi widened his eyes and covered BumJu’s ears. “Lin, watch your tone! I made these sweaters for me and BumJu and I’m _sorry_ you’re jealous that you don’t match, but that’s no need to be mean.”

Lin rolled her eyes, and Bumi beamed, pulling his hands away from his companions ears. “Ikki, Tenzin told me you’re going to see if you can bond with a bison sometime soon.” 

Ikki nodded and started chattering. Lin would never have been able to create this kind of dynamic, but it was nice to slide into the one the Cloudkids had made. 

——

Uncle Bumi had been wrong. Uncle Bumi had been _so_ wrong and she hadn’t realized how stupid she had been to forget what her situation actually was. 

Uncle Bumi and Aunt Kya weren’t really her aunt and uncle, but they’d been nice enough to pretend. Tenzin and Pema had taken in an unwanted child because they were good people, not because they wanted her as part of the family. Jinora had called her a sister once, and Nomi knew that Tenzin’s other children liked her well enough, but that didn’t mean they were actually family. They hadn’t even celebrated her birthday in the summer. They hadn’t even _asked_ when her birthday was.

She had been forced into their care as they were the only family that could teach her how to not cause destruction with her bending. They were nice and generous but she wasn’t their family, and she has been so _stupid_ to think that. It was better that she realized that now instead of after calling Tenzin ‘Dad’ or Pema ‘Mom’. Chief Beifong wasn’t there every day to rub Nomi’s mistake in her face.

It took everything in Nomi not to flinch when Chief Beifong yelled at Nomi for calling her Aunt Lin. Tears had immediately welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them back furiously and none of them spilled. She ate quietly and neatly, not wanting to provoke anymore ire than she already had. No one mentioned anything to her, so she assumed she had covered well enough. 

She helped clean up. It was the least she could do after pretending to be a member of their family for months, eating their food, taking up their time. After the dining room was clean, Chief Beifong’s actual family started to take up her attention and Nomi let them. She wasn’t here for a lesson, she was here to spend time with her family, and had made it very clear that Nomi wasn’t included in that. 

After cleaning, Nomi retreated to the bison stable. She curled up next to Oogi and cried. 

——

Tenzin had given it some thought, and it had been nearly seven years since their last vacation. Rohan didn’t remember because he was so young, and Meelo hardly remembered more than that. He thought Meelo’s memories were more from the stories that Ikki and Jinora shared than him remembering the actual events. Furthermore, Ikki had earned the responsibility of a bison, and the herds were not in Republic City. 

He did remember the lemurs, much to Tenzin’s displeasure. 

Regardless, Tenzin thought the family needed to visit the other air temples as a group. Individually they would travel and visit the groups at each temple when asked or as a routine visit, but nothing like they had prior to Harmonic Convergence. Nomi hadn’t left the island since she arrived, and he thought a change of location might do her good. It would also be nice to breathe fresh air untainted by the pollution of the city. 

She had recently become very quiet, and Tenzin was concerned. It was nearing the one year anniversary of her joining their family, and he wanted her to feel loved and welcome and not worry that something like before would happen again. A vacation would do just that, and he could continue her and Rohan’s education and Ikki could bond with a bison. 

When he mentioned it to Pema, she agreed, and the two of them wanted to spend time planning the trip before mentioning it to the rest of them. 

——

At the announcement of a family vacation, Nomi wanted to be an earthbender and sink into the floor. She didn’t understand why they had to include her in the conversation if it was a _family_ vacation and she wasn’t invited. It felt mean for Tenzin to rub it in her face, but she knew he didn’t mean it like that. He just didn’t want her to worry about them when they disappeared for a month and she was all alone. 

Tenzin explained that Ikki would be seeing if she could bond with a bison at one of the temples, and Rohan would be learning the history of each temple. 

“Is Uncle Bumi coming this time?” Meelo asked excitedly. 

“No!” Tenzin said forcefully, and she was sorry that Uncle Bumi was missing out on vacation, but she didn’t want to be alone for a month. She’d started helping the other acolytes in their care of the island, helping them in the garden, and with grounds keeping but she wasn’t close to any of them like she was Bumi. 

“Nomi, you’ve been quiet. Is there something on your mind?” Nomi was startled out of her thoughts. This was just _mean_. 

“It sounds like fun.” she said as enthusiastically as she could manage. A weird silence covered the group then,

“Where are we going first? I want to go to the Southern Temple because Grandpa Aang was there!” Rohan said excitedly, ignoring or oblivious to Nomi’s lackluster attitude. 

She breathed. 

——

Something was wrong with Nomi, and Pema was concerned. She didn’t expect as enthusiastic of a response as Meelo or Rohan at the announcement of a vacation, but she definitely expected more than a flat “it sounds like fun.” She had seemed downtrodden for weeks, and any attempt Pema or Tenzin made to comfort her was shrugged off. Jinora said that Nomi was still excited to meditate with her and Pepper in the park, and Rohan and her still played around, but anytime Tenzin or Pema were there, she became closed off. Bumi and Kya weren’t having this problem either, if the loud giggles and animated chattering from the girl was any indication, but it was only around her in-laws. 

Nomi was a child and children _loved_ vacation and adventures. Her and Tenzin both agreed that Nomi had been downtrodden, and this vacation could help fix it. Any time she had looked for her, she was alone in the bison stable or on the cliff. Pema knew the child was capable of knowing when the earth ended, but she would talk to Lin about adding walls to the places where Nomi frequented, if only to give Pema peace of mind.

Pema had found some of Ikki’s clothes she had kept out of nostalgia, and the fact that there weren’t supposed to be any more airbending girls had really cemented her resolve to keep them in case any of her grandchildren could make use. Nomi’s dresses and tunics were becoming threadbare and ill fitting, and while Nomi couldn’t see them, and maybe wouldn’t have cared if she had seen them, Pema did mind that Nomi’s range of motion was going to be severely affected. Their proximity to the ocean meant that Republic City never got properly cold, but it was moving into winter and Nomi would need warmer clothes. The ones she had been abandoned with wouldn’t provide the warmth she would need. It wasn’t the same as entirely new clothes, but Ikki and Rohan both used hand me downs. 

She carried the folded clothes to Nomi’s room, hoping that since it was late enough she would be inside. Nomi’s quiet, “Come in.” after she knocked was all the invitation she needed. 

Nomi sat on the bed, feet dangling off the edge. She had grown so much since she arrived, and the cuffs of her pants were well above her ankles. Yes, she would need new clothes and soon.

“Nomi, darling, it’s starting to get cold here and I’m worried the outfits you have now won’t be enough for the chill here.” Pema said gently. “I brought you some robes that should fit you, and they’re a lot warmer.”

“I don’t want them.” Nomi said decisively, crossing her arms in front of her. 

Nomi had never outright said no to them, not once during the ten plus months they spent together, not since that first week. 

“Honey, your clothes aren’t fitting anymore and the cold is very dangerous.” Pema tried explaining. 

“No!” A gust of wind pummeled Pema, and the clothes flew out of her grip and scattered around the room. “I don’t _want_ your clothes. I don’t need them and I don’t need you!” Nomi yelled, buffeting her with more wind. They were more controlled than the first time, and Pema wasn’t pushed around even though she did feel the gusts.

Pema was uncertain what happened these past few weeks to cause such a change in behavior. Her and Tenzin’s behavior hadn’t changed that she knew about, and her children weren’t excluding her, and Bumi didn’t have an idea either, when she’d asked, and he was Nomi’s closest confidant. 

“Nomi, what’s wrong? I can’t fix it if I don’t know what’s wrong.” Pema tried placatingly. 

“You don’t get to take my stuff away. I won’t _let_ you. It’s mine.” Nomi insisted. 

“I’m not going to take your things away, Nomi.” Pema reassured her, but confused with where the conversation had gone. She hadn’t intended to cause this distress, especially when she didn’t even know what it was about. 

“Tenzin’s— Tenzin’s told me that I don’t get to keep things.” Nomi stuttered, and Pema was going to give him a piece of her mind. “I’m _keeping my things_ and I won’t let you take them away!”

“Nomi, that’s not what he meant. I promise you that’s not what he meant.” She started collecting the clothes off the floor, folding them. “It’s true the air _nomads_ didn’t have very many worldly possessions, but we’re not nomads. We just don’t collect things for the virtue of having things. These clothes belonged to Jinora and Ikki. I kept them because I had hoped my grandchildren would have worn them, but then I had a third daughter and she needed them more than any hypothetical grandchildren.” 

She placed the folded clothes on the bed next to Nomi. “If your things make you happy beyond just having them, the memories or the feelings they invoke, it’s important to keep and cherish them.” 

She looked at Nomi, who’s long hair was shielding her face. She heard a quiet sniffle, and then a long wet inhale. 

“I’m sorry.” Nomi sobbed. 

“Is it okay if I hug you, sweetheart?” A sad nod, and Pema wrapped her arms around Nomi. 

“I’m sorry I was mean.” Nomi said again and Pema shushed her. 

“It’s alright, I promise. If you are scared about something like this again, please ask one of us, any of us, and we’ll be happy to put your fears to rest. That’s our job. You’re our daughter and we’re supposed to protect you.” Pema said firmly, squeezing Nomi tightly.

Nomi didn’t respond for a minute. “Do you mean that?”

“Mean what? Of course we don’t want you to be afraid, you’re our little girl.” 

“No, not that.” She shook her head, “Did you mean it when you said I was your,” Nomi’s voice dropped until it was almost unintelligible, “daughter?”

Pema’s heart skipped a beat and she could feel herself tearing up. “Of course I did, honey. We’ve thought of you as our family since you arrived. Have we done something to make you think you’re not?” She was distraught that she had inadvertently made Nomi feel unwelcome, and Tenzin would be similarly horrified. 

“I know you didn’t want me, originally. Momma and Daddy didn’t either. I didn’t know if you had changed your mind.” Nomi hiccuped into Pema’s robes. “It’s okay, if you still don’t. I’ve been— I’ve been getting better at seeing and I can do almost everything myself so you don’t need to pretend if it’s not true. Please don’t pretend.” 

“Nomi, Tenzin and I and Jinora and Ikki and Meelo and Rohan all want you as part of our family. I know I’m sorry that you’ve not felt like you’ve been a part of it, and I know I speak for all of us when I say it was never our intention to make you feel this way. We’re not pretending when we say you’re family.” Pema tried to soothe the miserable girl in her arms.

“Is Uncle Bumi supposed to take care of me while you’re away?” Pema was thrown by the non sequitur. 

“What? Nomi, when are we going away?” she asked, confused. 

“On your vacation to find Ikki a bison and Rohan to learn about his grandpa.” 

Pema was not prone to cursing. Pema was not prone to violence. Pema could have killed herself for letting it get so bad that Nomi thought she was being left behind _on the one year anniversary of her abandonment_ because she didn’t feel like family. 

“You’re coming with us, darling. It’s a family vacation. You are family. All seven of us are going to find Ikki a bison and explore the other temples.” she explained. 

“Oh.” Her soft voice sounded surprised. “I thought it was just for your actual kids.”

“You’re my actual kid too. I love you like I love Ikki or Rohan or Jinora or Meelo. I would do anything to make you all happy and safe.” Pema insisted. 

“Oh.” There was more quiet and Pema knew Nomi wasn’t done speaking yet, “Does— Does Tenzin feel the same way?”

“Yes, he does. Do you want me to go get him so he can tell you himself?”

“Can I go too?”

Pema gripped her hand. “Of course.”

——

Pema and Tenzin said she was part of their family, that she belonged with them and that they loved her just as much as all their other children. She cried some more, but tried to believe them. 

She even wore the robes that Pema had left behind, in an attempt to apologize. She shouldn’t have made such accusations or threatened her with the wind. The robes had more fabric than she was used to, and she knew she had put them on wrong the first time. Ikki spotted her first, giggled, and asked if Nomi wanted help putting them on correctly. 

Ikki showed Nomi how to fasten each fold and once she was finished, Nomi was pretty sure she could replicate almost every part.

Chief Beifong hadn’t visited the island since that dinner, and Nomi was nervous to train with her again. She didn’t know if there was another reprimand in store for her, or if Chief Beifong would pretend it didn’t happen.

Her senses had gotten significantly better in the five months since she started. She could see at least twenty feet in any direction, of any size, and even farther if the object was really big, like a tree. Bumi helped her practice since Chief Beifong and Kya weren’t around, they started mimicking poses to see if Nomi would be able to learn new airbending forms that way. She had successfully mirrored him most of the time, and was excited to tell Tenzin after their vacation. She hoped that he would let her learn more things than just instruments, which she was excelling at and enjoyed, but it was monotonous when Rohan got to ride around on air scooters and Ikki was allowed to glide everywhere. 

She used her cane to navigate uneven ground, as she wasn’t sensitive enough yet to discern if there was a tree root or a rock jutting out of the ground, and she didn’t want to fall on her face any more than she had to. 

Meelo said her reading was almost as good as his, and she just needed to practice writing things out so her grammar would get better. 

After her conversations with Pema and Tenzin, she felt more sure of herself and stopped hiding in the bison stables (which would soon have a new addition!) and spent more time with her family. 

At night she mapped out her squirrel-bat statue and squeezed her badgermole. She tried to put Chief Beifong’s rejection behind her. 

——

The Southern temples were huge. She could send out a wave of air and not reach the wall on the other side. Tenzin walked around with her and Rohan, making sure they received the history lesson about the place. It was where Tenzin’s father was born, and housed male monks only. Now a fair number of acolytes maintained the property, men and women alike, many of them married pairs in retirement. 

They were also made of fancy rock, like the temple back home. Nomi could feel it, and the sounds her cane made against the rock were different too. Tenzin took them into a statue room, and Nomi could tell the statues were very tall, and each one was different. 

“These are statues of all the Avatar’s before Korra. My father was the last statue placed here.” He explained, guiding them to the center of the room in front of what she presumed was Tenzin’s father’s statue. 

“Can I touch it?” Nomi asked shyly. She knew they were in a sacred part of the temple, and people were supposed to pray in these sacred spaces, but she needed to ground herself first. If she couldn’t see the statues like everyone else could, maybe she could at least feel them. 

“Of course. Dad wouldn’t mind.” Tenzin assured her, and she reached out towards the foot in front of her. She touched the statue and Nomi gave a silent prayer. 

_Avatar Aang, thank you for raising a family that accepted me into their own. I promise I won’t let them down._

She knew he heard it. 

Nomi withdrew her hand and Tenzin, Rohan, and her walked back out of the sanctum. 

——

Officially, Tenzin didn’t have a preference for any of the temples. It was imperative that, as the _de facto_ leader of the Air Nation, he didn’t show favoritism towards any of the communities. 

Unofficially, he agreed with Rohan. The Southern Air Temple was his favorite. It was the one he spent most of his youth in, as it was closest to the Southern Water Tribe. In addition, his father had always been most enthusiastic about this temple, and Aang’s enthusiasm was contagious. Meelo was occupying himself elsewhere, having begged off the tour claiming he remembered where everything was from when he was four. Pema promised to keep an eye on him, and Tenzin had let him go. 

He had barely been paying attention as they walked under a shaded grove of trees, and didn’t hear the snap of the tree branch. He certainly wasn’t paying enough attention, focusing on Rohan walking precariously on the wall next to the grove. He would be fine, if he fell. Rohan knew how to catch himself, but it didn’t make Tenzin less anxious to see his children at large heights. 

All of this to say that Tenzin did not notice the large branch that nearly hit him in the head. He was so focused on what lay in front of him that Nomi’s panicked, “Watch out!” and gust of air pushing the branch away from his head and onto the path next to him, stunned him. 

“Nomi! You saved Daddy!” Rohan yelled at them. 

He looked at her. “Are you okay?” she asked him. 

_Nomi_ asked _Tenzin_. That was not the role he had expected. 

“I’m okay. How did you know the branch was falling?” He asked her intently, looking over her for any injury. 

“I felt it moving.” She pouted, “This was supposed to be a surprise! Me and Uncle Bumi were supposed to tell you together!”

 _Bumi_? Tenzin could feel his eyes bugging and his mouth gaping open like a fish. Distantly, he realized Rohan was pointing at him and laughing.

“Bumi taught you this?”

“No. I’ve been practicing with Au— Chief Beifong.” Tenzin would deal with her new hesitance to call Lin “Aunt” later. He was sure it had bad implications but first,

“You’ve been practicing with Lin.” He tried to keep the shock from his voice. 

“Yeah. You said she could see with her feet.” Nomi said slowly. “Aunt Kya and Uncle Bumi said you wouldn’t be mad!” she insisted. 

“I’m not mad.” he assured her, “Just... surprised is all. How long have you been doing this?”

“Chief Beifong first talked to me about it after I was at the Temple for six months.” Nomi answered. 

She’d been working on this in secret for six months. _Six months_. 

“How good is your, ah, sight?” He queried. 

“Look up.” She told him, and he did, “At the top of that tree,” she pointed and he followed, “There is a leaf.”

It was winter. All the leaves were gone. He followed the trail of her finger and, clear as day, one single leaf remained on the tree. It had to be over thirty feet above them. He was gaping again. 

“You’re not saying anything. Does this mean I can learn new things besides music? I _like_ the music, but I want to try more.” Nomi requested of him. 

“We’ll see.” he told her, unwilling to promise something he couldn’t follow through with. “Nomi, I won’t put you in any danger—“

“I _know_.” she interrupted him. “I just want to learn all the things Rohan gets to. Uncle Bumi and I have been practicing copying forms, so I can mostly follow along!” 

“Do any of the others know?” Were his other children keeping secrets from him too?

“Just Uncle Bumi, Aunt Kya, and Chief Beifong.” He was not reassured. His siblings and his more or less sister-in-law hid this information from him. He could have _helped_. He didn’t understand their fascination with bothering him.

Nomi fidgeted, “Why aren’t you happy? I thought you’d like that I can tell what’s going on and that I can learn more.”

“I’m not unhappy, Nomi. I promise. It’s just a lot to take in. Why don’t we find your mother and show her?”

——

Pema was more delighted than Tenzin was, for sure, and Ikki was the most delighted of all. Jinora was interested and asked polite questions, but wasn’t as enthusiastic as Ikki. No one was ever as enthusiastic as Ikki. 

Nomi wasn’t sure what she had done wrong, but Tenzin hadn’t said much since she stopped the branch. 

She was _supposed_ to stop the branch. You weren’t supposed to let those you loved get hurt. She had done the right thing so _why wasn’t Tenzin happy with her_? 

Ikki wanted to talk about her skills. “How long have you been working on this? Do you still need your cane? Do you think you could learn how to use a glider now? It’s _really_ fun!”

She answered Ikki’s questions happily, and trundled off with her to spend the rest of the afternoon after Pema insisted they spend time together. Tenzin forbade Ikki from helping Nomi use a glider, but Nomi thought the idea had merit. 

“Can you show me some of the things you learned first, Ikki? I can follow along!” 

She took them to a courtyard that had nothing in it. “My favorite thing is making _really_ loud bird calls, like this!” Ikki created a funnel with her hands before calling into it. 

The noise echoed across the mountains. “How do I sound like a bird?”

Ikki taught her the seven different calls she knew, and within the hour loud, off key tunes were dancing across the mountain tops. 

——

Tenzin was upset, Pema could tell that much. It wasn’t ideal that Nomi had kept a secret of this magnitude from them for half a year, but overall it was a harmless secret _and_ it made Pema feel better about Nomi wandering around the island on her own. 

“Tenzin, love, she probably didn’t want you to get your hopes up.” she tried placating him. 

“Pema, what if she was hurt?”

That was enough of his worrying. She put her hands on her hips, “Do you think Lin or your siblings would let a hair on her head be harmed?”

“No, but—“ He looked at her worried. 

She cut him off. “No buts! Nomi was perfectly safe doing this. It’s not like Lin was chucking rocks at her for her to dodge. She made small obstacle courses for Nomi to navigate without a cane. Bumi didn’t let her do anything dangerous either! Kya literally held bubbles in the air for her to pop! None of these things are anything to be worried about.” 

He was quiet for a moment and she softened, “I understand that you’re worried, but she wanted to do this on her own, without you. If you had known it would have been the only thing you worked on for months. Nomi didn’t want that.”

“We wouldn’t have—“ He protested and then fell silent at Pema’s knowing look. He would have and they both knew it. He would have been determined to gain the same sense she now had, and would probably have frustrated her endlessly.

“I’m sure you’ve scared her half to death already with your reaction,” she told her husband, “And you’re going to tell her that you’re proud of her when her and Ikki stop bothering the birds.”

He nodded. 

Pema smiled at him.

——

Ikki and Nomi shared a room at the Southern Temple because Nomi didn’t want to sleep alone in an unfamiliar place. 

A knock on the door and Tenzin asked if he could come in. Nomi welcomed him inside. He seemed in a better mood than he had been earlier. 

“I’m going to go see if Jinora has any snacks!” Ikki said, dashing out of the room. 

Nomi waited for Tenzin to say something. Anything. He sat next to her on the stone bed. 

Finally he started, “Nomi, I know you might have been disappointed with my reaction earlier. I was just so surprised and _so proud_ of what you’ve done. It is truly amazing.” He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead and she felt warmth radiating from her. 

She nodded. “I didn’t want to tell you until I could do it well. I didn’t... I didn’t want you to be disappointed if I couldn’t sense very far.”

“I would never be disappointed in you for discovering a technique on your own. I was... upset that I had not been included, but I understand why. I’m sure Lin was a good teacher.”

“She was!” Nomi assured him. She wouldn’t have been able to make that first step without her, even if she had to practice on her own or with her Aunt and Uncle most of the time. 

“She always wanted to be one when she was younger. I think it was part of her retirement plan.” He told her, a smile evident in his voice. 

“She should!” Nomi insisted. She would like her other students more than she liked Nomi, and that would be even better for them. 

“Let’s go see what snacks Ikki’s found.” She bounced onto her feet, grabbed her cane, and walked with him out the door. 

——

The other temples were similar, and after Ikki having no luck at the Southern Temple, they moved to the Western Temple. Nomi thought it was interesting how it was built under the cliff, but she assumed it might have been more impactful if she could see it from the back of a bison. 

It was quieter here, than at the Southern Temple. The history lesson included more of Tenzin’s father, but this time after the War and after his people were gone. 

Tenzin let her join their morning basics review and he didn’t say anything to her about not being allowed to do certain maneuvers. Nomi figured that was the most she could hope for. 

“If you can sense your surroundings, why do you still use a cane?” Rohan asked her as they walked around the temple after meditating with Tenzin. 

“I have to concentrate to see things that stay still, like everything around here. It gives me a headache if I do it too long.” Nomi explained. 

“Oh. There’s a big Pai Sho board. Do you want to go play with it?” Rohan asked, changing the subject on a whim.

“I don’t know how to play Pai Sho and I can’t see the tiles.” Nomi said petulantly.

“I don’t know how to play either, but do you think it would be fun to see who can build the taller stack of tiles? I bet I win!” he said excitedly.

“You will _not_!” Nomi could lift things with the air and she could definitely make the higher stack.

They made their way to the courtyard with the Pai Sho board, and each one immediately started moving tiles. Nomi was on tile five when they were interrupted by a voice, “What are you doing?”

“Stacking tiles. What does it look like?” Rohan retorted, carefully placing another tile on his stack.

Ikki huffed. “What does the winner get?”

They both stopped. “We didn’t think that far.”

“Well, I say that the loser has to give up dessert tonight and give it to the winner.”

“No!”

“Then what do you suggest, Rohan, if your idea is better than mine?” She couldn’t see it, but she could hear that Ikki was pouting.

Nomi wanted to see what he suggested, because giving up potential dessert seemed like a good prize to her. Rohan was two tiles behind her.

“Winner gets first ride with Ikki on her new bison!” Rohan crowed after another few moments of thought.

“Dessert is totally better, but I’ll referee _and_ let the winner ride with me on my new bison, _if_ one likes me enough on this trip.” She said, jumping and perching on a wall. “Go back to tile stacking!” she ordered them.

Nomi had to concentrate more and more as her stack got higher, but hers was swaying less than Rohan’s, so she took that as a good sign. She had twelve stacked when Ikki called out, “There’s no more tiles left.”

“So who won? I have twelve and I think that’s more than Rohan!” Nomi stated proudly.

“Wait a second and let me count!” Ikki started counting under her breath and then, “She does have you beat by 2, Rohan! You only have 10.”

“How did you beat me? You can’t even see the stack!” He complained.

“Mine wasn’t moving as much as yours! So I could add tiles faster.”

“Whatever. I’m going to go find Meelo. Him and Poki will want to play hog monkey in the middle.” 

Nomi rarely got into arguments with her siblings, so when Rohan stomped out of the room, she asked, “Did I do something wrong?” 

Ikki shook her head, “No. Rohan is just a sore loser. Meelo is the same way. Boys, you can’t do anything with them.”

“Oh.” she responded softly, relieved.

Ikki bounced up to Nomi, holding out her cane. Originally she had placed it along the wall so it wouldn’t be in any danger from falling tiles. 

“We gotta make these stacks smaller. Dad will have a hippo-cow if these were to break. Apparently they’re from Grandpa Aang’s time.” Ikki said, carefully dismantling Rohan’s tower.

Nomi did the same for her pile. “Did you get to meet your Grandpa Aang?”

“No. He died and Korra was born before Jinora was. He got really sick and Grandma Katara couldn’t do anything to help.” Ikki explained, two tiles hitting the ground with a large thunk, “Oops. I don’t think I broke anything, but let’s hurry so Dad doesn’t come looking.” 

Silence reigned as they worked to put all the tiles on the ground.

“One of the acolytes here has been making a flower garden. I know it’s winter in Republic City, but it doesn’t get cold here because it’s so close to the Fire Nation. And you can’t see them, but the flowers smell nice and we should go visit.” Ikki suggested.

“Sure!” Nomi agreed easily. She missed Ikki, who had spent the morning busy trying to bond with a bison.

Ikki spent the walk to the garden chattering about how Meelo used to try and challenge her and Jinora to do things all the time, and would lose and pout. 

“Rohan’s better than that, at least.”

\----

The Northern Air Temple was colder, and Tenzin taught her how to regulate her body temperature using her bending. He stressed the importance of always taking sure breaths and keeping a calm head. 

Nomi wished he had taught it to her earlier, and even though she thought she was proficient at it after a couple days practice, she still wore a heavy coat over her robes. She liked the feeling of safety in the coat, and she couldn’t overheat either with Tenzin’s technique. 

It was night, and Nomi buried herself under the blankets in her room. The stone was cold no matter what Nomi did, and it was difficult for her to get comfortable enough to sleep.

She gave up and wrapped herself in blankets, and walked towards Ikki’s room. She knocked, not wanting to startle her and heard a quiet, “Come in.”

“Ikki? It’s me.” she whispered.

“Nomi? What are you doing awake?” Ikki whispered back.

“I’m cold.” she whined.

“Oh. Do you want to sleep here? It’ll be warmer that way.” Ikki suggested, shuffling on her bed. Nomi nodded, climbing next to her.

They readjusted and Nomi was finally warm enough that she could feel properly drowsy. 

“Are you still awake?” Ikki said softly.

“Yeah?” 

“What if none of the bison like me? Dad and I spent all day today and yesterday trying to find a bison that liked me. I want a companion like Pepper or Oogi.” Ikki sounded sad and Nomi frowned.

She reached out, groping for the older girl’s hand. Once she found it she squeezed. “One of the bison at the Eastern Temple is going to love you. You’re _the best_ , Ikki. I love you, and the bison will too.” Nomi put as much conviction into her voice as she could.

“I hope you’re right.”

\----

Nomi knew that it had been a year since she was left on the island when no one left her alone the whole day. All six of them refused to mention why they were following her around all the time, but she heard Tenzin ask Jinora to keep an eye on her. 

Ikki joined her for a sleepover that night, citing the chill in the air. “I’m sorry that your life changed so much a year ago, but I’m glad you’re my sister now.”

Nomi hugged her tightly and they both pretended that she wasn’t crying. 

\----

They finally made it to the Eastern Air Temple, and Ikki’s bison was named Patches. Apparently it wasn’t common for sky bison to be spotted, but Patches had a giant brown spot on her side. Immediately the two had hit it off and Nomi was thrilled for Ikki. The older girl had been so worried, and Nomi had known it was for nothing.

Ikki and Patches had gone off exploring and Nomi was eagerly awaiting their return. She was supposed to be the first one besides Ikki to fly with Patches, and she would wait until Patches was bigger than her, but it was Nomi’s privilege, fair and square.

Jinora and Meelo were arguing again as they walked up towards where she waited. Jinora was wanting to do something with Ikki and Nomi, and Meelo was telling her that Nomi was too young.

“Jinora, she’s seven! Nomi’s not going to want to spend the day in an art history lesson when she’s _seven_ ” Meelo stressed, “and she can’t even see the art anyway!”

“It’s interactive, Meelo.” Jinora retorted, “You don’t need to just look at it!”

At the same time, Nomi complained, “I’m eight, and I’m right here!”

“Nomi! There you are. I wanted to know if you wanted to attend an interactive art lesson with me and Ikki. Acolyte Mitsi is teaching it and she is so _fun_.” Jinora implored.

“Sure.” Nomi said. She loved the sculpture that Chief Beifong had made, and this wasn’t earthbending, but it might be something similar. 

A moment of silence then, “Wait, what do you mean you’re eight? You’re seven.” Meelo sounded confused.

“My birthday was in the summer. Eight comes after seven.” Nomi stuck her tongue out at him. She was pretty sure she pointed her face in the right direction at Jinora’s giggle.

“But we didn’t do anything for your birthday!” He sounded affronted by it. Nomi shrugged. No one had ever asked her when her birthday was, and when she thought about telling them, she always opossum-chickened out at the idea that they would tell her it didn’t matter. She’d been there when they celebrated Jinora turning 18 and Meelo turning 13, so she knew it wasn’t an airbender thing to ignore birthdays. 

She just didn’t want them to ignore _her_ birthday, and they couldn’t do that if they didn’t know when it was.

“You never asked.” Nomi said simply. She was going to tell them this year, anyway. Pema would probably feel bad about missing the previous year, but Nomi understood she had been a big change in their lives.

“You never offered either!” Meelo moved, hand outstretched as if to grab her and Nomi jumped away from him. 

“Don’t touch me!” 

“We have to tell Mom and Dad. They’re going to be _so_ mad.” Meelo laughed.

“Why would they be mad?” Nomi cried. She still had yet to make them truly furious with her beyond a quick order to stop arguing with the boys. Tenzin was upset with her about her sensing the air, but he hadn’t been truly _mad_.

“They’re not going to be mad, Meelo, stop fibbing.” Jinora reassured her, “But we do need to tell them. You have any other big secrets?”

“That’s not a big secret.” Nomi grumbled.

“It so is!” Meelo argued. 

Jinora was walking towards her and Nomi let her. She wrapped an arm around Nomi’s shoulders, steering her in a different direction. “Ignore him. He just likes,” Jinora raised her voice, “being _annoying_ for no reason.”

“What kind of interactive art is it?” Nomi asked.

“It’s blowing sand at an adhesive to create textured paintings. You can do different colors or amounts of sand to create things.” Jinora explained.

“That sounds like fun.” Nomi said.

“I know it does. Meelo was just being rude.”

\---- 

Pema and Tenzin apologized profusely for missing her birthday, and Nomi thought it would be an accurate descriptor to say they were horrified that they never thought to ask. 

“We’ll do something fun when we get back to Republic City!” Pema promised, “We’ll invite Kya and Lin, so it’ll be the entire family celebrating, if that’s okay?”

Nomi nodded. Chief Beifong didn’t consider Nomi to be family, but that didn’t mean the reverse was true. Aunt Kya was family, so that meant Chief Beifong had to be family too. She would like to spend time with her family, even if it meant being around Nomi.

Thinking about it made Nomi’s head hurt and her stomach tighten, but she nodded vigorously, “Yes! Will there be sweet rolls?” Nomi asked excitedly.

A tight squeeze and then, “I’ll make _special_ sweet rolls just for you.”

\----

Nomi and Ikki flew around the island with Patches after they returned. Nomi still spent more time with Pepper and Oogi, since they were better behaved and didn’t accidentally push her as often. Plus Tenzin had instructed the rest of them to let Ikki and her bison bond without unwanted interruptions.

The day of her party, Nomi was giddy. She didn’t know the exact time, but she knew it was still early when she woke up. Uncle Bumi promised her a new story and Aunt Kya said she would help Nomi learn to feel people’s auras. So far, meditating with Jinora was as spiritual as she had gotten, and she didn’t want to go to the Spirit World, but she loved BumJu and spending time with him and the other spirits that made the island their home. 

She waited like she always did, waiting for the noise of the rest of the island to tell her it was a reasonable time to be out and about. She often had to nap later in the day to make up for waking so early, but she didn’t know how to tell the time when there was no one around to ask. 

She could hear the other’s rustling in the halls and she crawled out from under her blankets, neatly replacing them on the bed. She added her badgermole next to her pillow before getting dressed in some of the robes she’d been given. She painstakingly combed her hair, multiple tangles there from her restless sleeping. Nomi carefully braided her hair, pulling it into a small bun at the base of her neck and securing it with a brooch Pema had let her borrow. She smiled as she grabbed her cane and moved towards the main living area.

Pema was already awake and greeted her enthusiastically with a kiss to the top of her head. “You’re up early!”

“I was too excited! Is there anything I can help you with?” Nomi liked baking with Pema. It meant she got to sneak extra sweets and she got to spend extra time with her. She also found it fun to actually do the baking, and getting her hands all sticky with dough filled her with joy. 

“Go wash your hands and I’ll let you knead the dough, how about that?” Nomi nodded and ran to the sink.

Kneading the dough was tiring, and soon her firm movements mellowed out. She thought that it was nearly the right texture and resolved to finish it by herself. She was _eight_. She could do it. 

“I think that’s just perfect. Good job!” Pema said over her shoulder. Nomi pulled her hands out of the dough and scraped them clean. Pema started shaping them into rolls and incorporating whatever secret ingredient she was using to make them special for Nomi. Nomi washed her hands and moved to one of the stools that resided in the kitchen. 

“What time are Chief Beifong and Aunt Kya getting here?” Nomi asked, swinging her legs back and forth. 

“I invited them over for a late lunch, so early afternoon. Eat something for breakfast so you’re not hungry later, and then go play with your brothers and sisters! Today _is_ supposed to be full of surprises, and I love you, but you can’t be here if you want them to stay surprises!” Pema handed her a piece of fruit and some bread from the previous day and pushed her out of the kitchen, “Jinora should be awake by now.”

\----

It had been months since Lin had last been to the island. She had finally, through trial and error, fixed the approval process for her officers and was able to take at least one and a half days off per week, and usually she tried to pull more. Even if she wasn’t able to take entire days off, she left the station before dark every day and made it to dinner with Kya. She was determined to make it to Nomi’s belated birthday party. She hadn’t seen her adopted niece since that last dinner, and Lin wanted to see how she was progressing with her air sensing and in general how things were going. It had been over a year now that she made such a bad impression that Nomi called her the mean lady, and she finally progressed to Aunt Lin, only to stop seeing her regularly. 

She dressed in casual clothes, some metal sequestered under her sleeves so she would be prepared if something went wrong. Kya rolled her eyes at Lin’s weaponry, but kissed her cheek anyway. Lin drove to the dock and parked. Kya pulled the gift she had gotten out of the back seat and they made their way to the ferry. Donu was waiting for them, and once they boarded and gave their greeting, he set course for the island.

He and Kya chatted about his children, like they always did, and Lin listened to their pleasant conversation, holding no desire to become part of it. They arrived on the island, where Tenzin waited for them. No children were in sight, which was unusual for her visits. Nomi usually waited on the dock for her, determined to get her attention before the rest of her siblings did.

Tenzin looked horribly serious for an occasion so light hearted as a child’s birthday party, which was so _him_ Lin had to restrain from rolling her eyes.

“Lin, Kya.” He nodded at them as they disembarked. “Nomi’s been asking about you two constantly since you said you were coming.”

“Tenzin! We’re her favorite aunts, can you blame her?” Kya smiled at him, gift bag in hand.

“You’re her _only_ aunts.” He retorted, “You’re her only aunts, and you should have told me that you were trying to teach her as of yet unknown airbending techniques.” It looked like Nomi had finally worked up the nerve to show him, or had it done for her. 

“Tenzin, you would have made it all about you. The kid needed to practice something on her own for a change.” Lin narrowed her eyes at the expression on his face, one of affronted offense, “Pema already told you this, didn’t she?”

“Well, yes, but--” He responded, flustered at her observation.

“Can it, then. We’re both right, and Bumi and Kya agree with us too.” Tenzin looked at his sister in betrayal, but Kya just gave an apologetic smile in return.

“Where are the kids? You didn’t make them do chores all morning, did you?” his sister asked, looking around for them.

“No. They are all supposed to be keeping Nomi distracted so she leaves Pema alone. We found the perfect glider for her, and loathe as I am to teach it immediately, there’s no reason that she can’t work towards it.” He turned and walked up the hill, the two women following.

“So, how’d you find out?” Lin asked conversationally. Kya had told her Nomi wanted to keep it a secret until after their vacation. 

Tenzin flushed an embarrassed red, “She stopped a branch from falling on me.”

Lin snorted, “Seriously? That’s how she let it slip? Good for her.”

“She’s very good. I heard she had a good teacher.” He side-eyed Lin.

“What on earth are you talking about? We worked together six, no, five times. She did that all on her own.” Lin protested. Really, she had held rocks in the air for Nomi to test her skills on and made obstacle courses. Not anything particularly monumentous or groundbreaking.

“She already had an idea of how to start seven months ago. The only thing I did was coach her to think of different techniques.” Lin defended her student. Their lessons were mostly theoretical.

Tenzin hummed at her. Lin spotted Ikki running in the hall, before stopping and facing towards the three adults.

Ikki ran up to them, she waved before saying, “Oh, thank the spirits.” A sigh from Tenzin at the phrase, “Aunt Lin, Nomi is really _freaking out_ and I think you’re the only one that can fix it?”

“What?” All three adults said in unison, confused and concerned.

\----

Nomi didn’t know how her squirrel-bat statue ended up on the floor, broken into many pieces but she couldn’t think.

The crash had caused her to wait with baited breath, and when she sensed the air, there was no familiar shape. Just broken wings, a disconnected head, and lumps where smooth clay once resided.

Chief Beifong had given it to her, close enough to her real birthday that it had been easier to ignore that no one else had even asked. Chief Beifong had given it to her after she had done so well during their first lesson. Chief Beifong, who currently hated her, who wouldn’t come to the island for lessons anymore, who rejected Nomi claiming her as family, who _wouldn’t repair the statue she had so carefully made_ and that Nomi had utterly _ruined_.

She knelt on the floor, trying to grab the pieces, hoping that she could just will them back together. They clattered from her grip, falling gently back onto the floor. She could feel herself hyperventilating and tears streaming down her face. The only noises she heard were her own loud gasping breaths.

Distantly she heard the creak of the hinges on her door and she heard Ikki’s voice, but she couldn’t make out the words. She recoiled violently when Ikki touched her, pieces of clay clattering in her wake.

“So--sorry.” She stuttered out.

Ikki started talking again, and Nomi tried focusing on her words, “...wrong...?”

“Bro--broke it.” Nomi managed to hitch out. 

Ikki touched Nomi’s back, and this time Nomi didn’t push her off. “Aunt Lin will be here any moment and fix it! I’ll go check right now to see if she’s here.” One last pat and Ikki left her alone with the rubble she had created.

The day had started off so well and Nomi just had to go and ruin it.

Chief Beifong was going to be furious with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was supposed to be 2 chapter, then 3, and now it's 4.
> 
> But it'll be staying 4! Next is the reconciliation between Nomi and Aunt Lin, and then a fun epilogue, before closing our short story. 
> 
> If you were curious as to what Bumi and BumJu's sweaters looked like: [ CLICK HERE](https://twitter.com/sleazyjanet/status/1316414035043266561?s=20). It’s made by @sleazyjanet on Tumblr & Twitter and you should check out their other works!
> 
> If you want to chat about TLoK or AtLA you can find me on twitter: @lilyliv3rs


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally have the last chapter! 
> 
> As always, if there's something grossly wrong, please feel free to correct me with how Nomi is characterized or a really horrible plot hole. This isn't beta read and is honestly barely proofread.

“What makes you think I’m the only one that can fix ‘it’?” Lin asked, the three adults following Ikki with some concern. She doubted she could help _any_ distressed child, let alone one that she had tried to comfort in the past with little success. Her words were too harsh to properly alleviate any distress and her actions were stilted at best.

“Nomi’s upset because her statue is broken.” Ikki explained and Lin nodded, relieved. She knew she was capable of fixing this mess and then the kid would be able to enjoy the rest of her day. Meelo had broken his first statue while they were still in the South Pole, and Lin had made him stew in it for a few minutes before fixing it for him. Jinora and Ikki had never actually broken theirs, but it was more difficult to break metal than clay. Once Ikki had bent a part of her statue, accidentally blowing it against a wall and Lin had straightened it out without any fuss. 

They made it to Nomi’s room and Lin knocked on the door. She could hear the heavy breathing behind the door, and when she tapped her foot against the ground, she could feel the pieces of the statue on the ground and the small body still kneeling on the floor, heart beating frantically. 

“Nomi,” she said when there was no response from inside, “Can I come in?”

“Yeah.” Nomi sounded pathetic and miserable. Cripes, Lin hoped it wasn’t actually that bad. She was just going to make things worse if it was that bad. She opened the door, and Tenzin made to follow behind her into the room when Ikki grabbed his arm. 

Lin heard Ikki whisper, “Not you, Daddy. Nomi doesn’t want anyone in there at _all_ , but Aunt Lin can fix this.” as she stepped into the child’s bedroom, gently shutting the door behind her. Ikki was still trying to dissuade Tenzin from coming into the room.

Nomi looked horrible and the room was a mess. Clothes were strewn everywhere, clearly blown around in a tantrum. Nomi was cradling the pieces of earth in her hands, face red and puffy from the fit she had been having. Her eyes, normally dry and sightless were wet and bloodshot. 

“You having a little trouble?” Lin asked, trying to mimic the way she had seen Pema approach Jinora when her and Kai had a fight. 

Nomi’s lip wobbled at Lin’s question and Lin cursed herself. 

“I’ll... I’ll be re-ready in a minute.” Nomi stuttered out, moving the clay in her hands to the pile next to her. 

“What?” Lin immediately responded, more confused. “We’re not getting you ready for anything, kid.”

“Oh.” The soft admission was followed by a new bout of tears. Lin knelt near Nomi, not liking the feeling of towering over a crying child, even if that child couldn’t see her. Nomi was shaking, trying to breathe quietly as she cried profusely. “I’m -- I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Su had had fits like this all the time as a kid. Even Ikki and Meelo weren’t out of this phase by the time she was around them. Rohan was a pretty easy-going child, and didn’t let much bother him. None of them were ever _sorry_ they cried, just embarrassed later.

Nomi sniffled, and took a deep breath, hitching violently. She tried to speak again, but all that came out were pitiful gasps. 

“I can fix your squirrel-bat.” Lin offered, hoping it would distract Nomi enough that she stopped crying, “Ikki told me it broke. Meelo’s broken his bison probably ten times, so this being the first time in months is pretty good.” she joked. 

She waited a few moments and then Nomi nodded slowly. Lin picked up the pieces and meshed them back together. It hadn’t been destroyed as much as Meelo had done in the past and took barely any effort.

She handed it to Nomi, gently guiding one of her tiny hands to the statue. Lin didn’t think her focusing skills would be enough when she was this upset. “Feel this. Did I forget anything? It’s been a while since I first made it.”

Nomi delicately ran her fingertips over the statue, and Lin waited to see if it passed inspection. The statue proved a decent distraction, her breaths evening out and not hitching so violently. She kept mapping the joint of the wing and body, pausing like she wanted to say something. Lin reassured her, “I don’t mind if it needs to be fixed more. It’s only the second time I’ve made a squirrel-bat.”

Nomi hesitated for another few moments, before quietly asking, “Can you… the wing? It was more...” she raised a hand and bent it, and yeah, Lin remembered now. 

“Hand it here.” Lin ordered. Immediately Nomi held out the statue. She took it and adjusted the wing as best as she remembered, then returned it. Nomi inspected the statue again, this time smiling in approval. Lin smirked.

“Thank you, Chief Beifong.” Nomi said quietly, still mapping the statue reverently. 

Lin’s smile disappeared. She tried to think of what she could have done to lose Aunt status and was coming up blank. “Chief Beifong, huh? I do something that make you mad?” she asked, trying to keep her tone light.

Nomi stopped fidgeting and froze. “I-- I don’t…” she trailed off.

“You go on vacation and I’m Aunt Lin and you come back and I’m Chief Beifong. Did being around all those stuffy acolytes make you be all formal?” Lin teased her, forcing her tone to be lighter than normal in an attempt to seem friendlier. 

Nomi opened her mouth, said nothing, then closed it again. Lin felt her knees protesting kneeling for this long and she readjusted herself so she was cross legged on the floor. “I guess you don’t _have_ to tell me what’s up; I’m not your mother.”

Fresh tears welled up, “Spirits, Nomi, kid, don’t cry.” She was tempted to offer comfort in the form of a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but couldn’t figure out if it would be welcome or not. 

“Hey, I’m not great at this whole emotions thing.” she tried explaining to the upset child, trying to justify her constantly making Nomi upset since the day they met, “I know we had a rocky start,” not that she would ever admit it to Kya or _anyone else_ , “But I really do not come to this island with the intention of making you sad.”

Nomi shook her head, “I understand.” she said pitifully. 

“You understand what?” Lin felt like she and Nomi were having two different discussions. 

“It’s stupid.” Nomi mumbled. “I shouldn’t be bothered.” She fell silent again and Lin waited to see if she would continue.

“Kya tells me that it’s not stupid to feel things.” Lin offered after a few moments of silence. “I don’t know if I believe her, sometimes, but it’s nice to think that.”

More silence. “Look, I get it if you don’t want to tell me. But is there someone else you _would_ want to talk to? Kya is here, or I can go get your parents.”

“No you can’t.” Nomi spit, unrestricted. Lin blinked in surprise, taken aback by the sudden vitriol.

“What?” Lin was certain she was going to get whiplash from Nomi’s changing moods. It reminded her of Su at her prime.

“They _left_ and you couldn’t find them. Why are you being so nice? I don’t need you to pretend. No one else is here.” Nomi sounded more bitter than any eight year old had a right to be. Lin supposed she’d be pretty hateful in Nomi’s situation. Spirits, she still wanted to yell at her mother for things that happened decades ago, so she understood Nomi’s frustration.

Lin was still stunned at the accusation. She addressed the end of her statement first. “I already told you. I don’t come here to upset you.”

“Then why can’t I--” Nomi stopped herself. “Nevermind. It’s stupid.”

“Why can’t you what?” 

Nomi fidgeted, “Everyone else gets to call you Aunt Lin. Tenzin and Pema said I was family.”

“You’ve called me Aunt Lin too.” Lin reminded her. That’s what started this whole new argument.

“And you _yelled at me_.” she said petulantly.

“No I didn’t!” Lin retorted, remembering only after she said it that she was arguing with a child fifty years younger than she was, “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember yelling at you.”

“You yelled at me not to call you ‘Aunt Lin’ and then you left. I get it. Momma and Daddy didn’t want me as part of,” she took a steadying breath, “Of their family either. I won’t tell anyone.” Nomi promised her and Lin felt sick.

She remembered yelling at Bumi for calling her by her childhood nickname, but didn’t think anything of it. She hated this feeling of guilt filling her. Kya had told her that Nomi had suddenly gotten quiet and withdrawn, that Tenzin and Pema were asking her and Bumi if they knew why the kid had suddenly changed demeanors. Lin hadn’t even thought of her reaction being a catalyst for something so dire. She had assumed, like the rest of them, that as the year anniversary of her abandonment drew near, the worse her mood had gotten.

Lin swallowed the lump in her throat, and tried to explain, “Nomi, I never intended for you to feel unwanted. I was... flattered that you called me Aunt Lin, especially after we didn’t get along at first. I was yelling at Bumi for calling me a nickname that I hated growing up.”

“Oh.” Nomi was quiet. “I thought you didn’t…” she trailed off, looking miserable. 

“All of Tenzin’s brood is my family.” Lin restrained herself from wringing her hands, “You’re included in that, if you want to be.”

Nomi nodded, reaching her arm towards Lin before dropping it. Tenzin’s other children were more subtle than that when they wanted to hug her. She sighed, then scooted next to Nomi, wrapping her arm around the tiny child. “I don’t bite.” 

Nomi threw her arms around Lin’s waist and she knew her blouse was wrinkling. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing to me. If you’ve done something worth apologizing over, I’ll let you know.” she reassured her. Nomi nodded into her side.

“So, I heard you saved Tenzin’s bald head from a branch? I bet he was flustered.” Lin said, trying to start another conversation, hopefully one less fraught.

“I thought he was mad at me.” Nomi confessed to her. Lin snorted.

“He doesn’t know how to be mad at his children. He loves you all too much to ever be properly mad. One time Meelo ran away from him when they were at the market and he just showed up in my office at the station. All Meelo got as punishment was a stern, ‘Don’t do it again.’”

“Really?” 

“Yeah. So how far can you sense now? It must be pretty good if you can play hero.” Lin was curious. It had been over two months since she and Nomi had practiced.

“Farthest so far has been sixty feet. If it’s moving it’s easier.” Nomi explained.

“Not bad. I can go about one hundred feet in any direction if I really put some effort into it. The Chief tells me she can see me and Su from the swamp, so about a hundred or so miles, but I think it’s just the spirit vines helping her. I know when she was here I couldn’t get away with anything without her knowing about it.” Lin confided. “C’mon, I think I’ve been in here for an hour. I know Tenzin is probably freaking out about you right outside this door.” Lin squeezed Nomi before standing up. Nomi picked her squirrel-bat off the floor, stood and gently placed it on to the dresser where it belonged.

\----

Nomi didn’t realize how much Aunt Lin’s perceived rejection had been weighing on her. She knew that her mood had soured enough that Tenzin and Pema wanted to go on vacation, but she hadn’t realized until her panicking at the broken statue how afraid she was. 

She felt a little residual anxiety, thinking about how intangible her family felt. Aunt Kya had told her once that it was okay to be scared, and they would prove it to her with enough time. 

Aunt Lin wiped her face with some cloth in her room before she let Nomi leave her room, claiming she looked like she’d been crying all afternoon. Nomi shrugged. She couldn’t see how obvious it was and trusted Aunt Lin to be honest. She pulled her cane towards her, and followed the older woman out. 

Tenzin and Kya were sitting on the ground, chatting about something. Both of them went silent at the door opening and hurriedly stood. 

“Nomi!” Kya crowed, “The girl of the day! You feeling better?” 

She nodded.

“Well, I know Pema has been working on stuff for dinner all day, so let’s go see what she made!” The morning where she kneaded dough seemed so long ago. She felt Kya reach out her hand and she took it and followed her. Tenzin stayed behind to talk to Lin, and Nomi hoped she wasn’t in trouble. 

They walked into the kitchen and Nomi hopped onto the stool she had sat on earlier in the day. Pema kissed her cheek when she walked by and everything there smelled so delicious. 

“I had the others set the table, if you want to go in there. We’ll be ready whenever Bumi and the other two get in there.” Pema told them, and Nomi nodded. 

“Thank you for making all of this.” Nomi said, trying to put as much thanks into it as she could. 

“Of course! It’s not every day you get to celebrate turning eight! And we’ll do something similar in a few months when you turn nine.” Pema promised her. 

Nomi and Kya went to the dining room, where the other adults had finally arrived. She sat down in her usual spot next to Rohan and Pema called for everyone to help her move things to the table. 

This family dinner was a lot more lighthearted than the last one they were all at and Nomi ate enough sweet buns that she knew she would be sick later. Pema didn’t make them often, so she made the most of the opportunity she’d been given.

She wasn’t allowed to help clear the table after either, and when Aunt Kya and Tenzin left the room and came back, they were each carrying something. Nomi frowned, confused. 

“What are you holding?” she asked.

“Nomi, it’s traditional for airbenders to learn how to glide with a glider instead of a suit.” Tenzin said seriously, and Nomi knew she was gaping. She _never_ thought he’d let her actually glide, and her, Ikki, and Jinora already made plans to go to the park and practice without him. “This one is made for someone your size.” 

He held out his hand, holding the glider and she grabbed it from him with as much restraint as she could muster. “Are you really going to teach me?” she asked excitedly.

“Yes, but _please_ don’t try doing it alone. Myself or Jinora needs to be with you.” Nomi nodded eagerly. She gingerly held the glider, running her fingers along the wood, feeling out the different components. The size of it reminded her of her cane.

“Don’t hog her attention, Tenny.” Aunt Kya teased, “Kid, me and Lin helped make this.” Nomi heard a small huff, “Okay well Lin mostly made it, but I did the beadwork.” 

Kya held out a box which was engraved with a lot of patterns, and Nomi gently placed her new glider next to her. The wood of the box was still smooth, and Nomi ran her fingers across the pleasing texture. She found the clasp on it and opened it, the hinges squeaking. The inside of the box was soft velvet and she felt the metal and pebbled texture of clay beads. A piece of glass covered part of it. 

“It’s a watch. Lin can show you how to use it, but it has traditional Water Tribe beadwork for the straps.” Kya said at Nomi’s confused expression.

Lin walked towards her and knelt down by her, reminding Nomi of what happened between them only an hour earlier. “So you can feel that there’s two sides, a glass and metal, right?”

Nomi nodded. “The metal side tells you which end is the twelve, I added some bumps so you can read it. Your name is there too. There’s a button on the side,” Nomi slid her fingers around the edge until she found it, “If you press the button, the glass will spring out.”

Nomi followed her directions, jumping a little in surprise at how forcefully the glass popped open. “There're two watch hands inside the glass, and the numbers are raised so you can feel them. Eventually you won’t even need to feel where the numbers are. When you’re done, you can push the glass back in.”

Nomi’s throat was thick and she could feel herself crying again. These things had taken so much time and effort and money, she was sure, to acquire and they were just _giving_ them to her. She pushed the glass until she heard it click and put it in the box.

“Aw, cripes, kid, did I say something wrong?” Nomi shook her head violently. 

“Lin, have you seriously never cried happy tears?” Aunt Lin’s head whipping around caused enough of a breeze that Nomi could sense it.

“Shut it, Bumi.” She turned back to Nomi, who was still frozen. “I’m glad you like the gift, kid.” She stood and Nomi followed her, throwing her arms around the tall woman, who froze.

“Wait, are we all allowed to give Aunt Lin a hug?” Ikki asked excitedly, jumping over the table and joining the two of them.

“No!” Lin shouted, but it was too late. Meelo and Rohan wasted no time in flying towards her, Jinora was close enough that all she had to do was stand. There was a loud noise and then, “Kya, where on earth did you get that camera? I’m going to destroy that photo!” 

\------

__

10 years later

“Aunt Kya! Aunt Lin!” Nomi shouted, gliding towards the courtyard. She landed ten feet away from the two older women, and quickly collapsed her glider, readjusting so she could use it like her cane. She strode towards her aunts and threw her arms around Kya in a hug, moving her glider so it wouldn’t be in the way. “You were able to make it!”

“Of course we made it!” Kya laughed with her, “It’s not every day that my niece becomes an airbending master!” After Aunt Lin’s retirement, the pair had moved to a small cottage outside the city. It was only a few hours by car, and even fewer by bison, but Nomi rarely made it out there, too busy with her other commitments.

“I can’t believe Dad agreed to let me get my tattoos!” Nomi gushed excitedly, withdrawing from Kya’s embrace and giving Lin a less enthusiastic hug, trying to be mindful of how Lin didn’t enjoy overt affection. She squeezed the teenager back. “I know Jinora had something to do with it.”

“She was the youngest airbending master the world has ever seen.” Lin said dryly, “Tenzin was reluctant to let her get her tattoos too. He just doesn’t like to admit you’re better than him.”

“Lin, you know that’s not it.” Kya admonished and Nomi giggled at their bickering, “He just doesn’t like seeing his little kids growing up. Tenzin was the same with Ikki and Meelo. Besides, you invented an entirely new application of airbending.”

Nomi could feel her face heating up. “It wasn’t really _new_.” she mumbled.

“Just accept the compliment and go.” Lin suggested, and Nomi could tell she was smiling. 

Nomi chatted with them as they walked towards the temple. The actual tattooing was private and only her immediate family, the other airbending masters, would be allowed to witness it, but the anointing ceremony afterwards was when everyone else would join. She had shaved her hair that morning. Jinora reassured her that it would grow back quickly, but it still had been jarring for Nomi to reach up to feel her plait and find bare skin.

Ikki told her that she should enter a meditative trance before the tattooing actually happened and her Dad had seconded the idea. She had practiced with her older sisters for the past month to ensure that her trance would be deep enough she didn’t actually feel the needle. She was confident that it wouldn’t be an issue.

Bumi was waiting for them at the top of the hill, and he kissed Kya on the cheek in greeting. “Nomi, Tenzin said they’re ready for you in the Temple.” 

She nodded and promised to see them later. Nomi ignored the nerves in her stomach. They had gone over the procedure with her multiple times, and her family was going to be with her the entire time. She took a steady breath and walked towards the Temple. 

The other four were already in the inner sanctum by the time she arrived. Nomi felt that there was an empty spot near Dad, and she sat next to him in a proper seiza. 

“You ready?” he asked her. She nodded, determined. 

Dad started listing the responsibilities of an airbending master and the vows that she would be expected to uphold. Nomi responded when she was supposed to, having rehearsed with Ikki, too nervous to sleep the night before.

Meelo sounded the gong and Nomi readjusted her posture to be more comfortable and entered a trance. 

Distantly, she was aware of the pinpricks along her scalp and spine, on her feet and arms, but there was no pain. She thought about how when she first started airbending, she had feared it because her parents feared it. They had never resurfaced after leaving her, and she found it difficult to remember much about her life Before. She had hated them, when she was younger. Hated that they didn’t want her enough to stay on the island with her. Hated that they considered her a burden when they made no effort to let her be independent. Hated that they left a measly note. 

When she was sixteen, Aunt Lin had taken her to visit Zaofu, claiming that there was another girl like Nomi. Opal was there, briefly, and originally that was who Nomi thought they were going to meet, despite having met Opal many times before. Lin had introduced her to another woman, one who had been abandoned just like she had.

Kuvira and Nomi talked about what they were like as children, what they thought the final straw was, their adoptive families, their bending. When Nomi had asked how she felt about her parents now, decades from joining the Beifongs, Kuvira had simply sighed. _I don’t hate them. I don’t know what I would have done if my child had destroyed my house whenever they were mad, if they had tantrums like I did, if I was as helpless as they were. I wish they had tried harder and had stayed with me in Zaofu, but I don’t hate them, not anymore._

It had given Nomi much to think about. She talked about it with her Mom and Dad. Aunt Lin had even offered information about growing up without a father. Nomi tried to accept that it had happened, that she was allowed to feel hurt and upset by it, but she couldn’t let it rule her. Most days it worked, but on her bad days she still retreated to the bison stables where Snuffles was, and she curled against her bison. 

Her Dad had been unwilling to let Nomi be involved with the other duties the Air Nation had, of providing aid to others and assisting local authorities with relief efforts, but eventually he caved. Mom had encouraged Nomi’s efforts, and Dad had calmed down.

Nomi was grateful that her family had taken her in, that they provided such a welcoming After. She was as involved with their family affairs just as much as if she’d always been there and they didn’t try and stifle who she was. Ikki had been the first person she told about one of the girls in some Earth Kingdom village who had flirted with her, and Ikki shared stories of some of the people that had flirted with her. Asami created a smaller printing machine for Nomi, allowing her to carry it on her travels so her parents wouldn’t worry if she couldn’t readily find a phone.

She was capable of sensing people from 1000 feet away, and smaller objects from 500 feet. Lin assured her that the longer she practiced, the farther it would go, as even her seismic sense was still improving the more she practiced with it.

They were on her right foot now, and Nomi knew it was almost over. She waited until the hand on her shoulder gave a deliberate shake, and brought herself back. Her skin was sore, and Dad had assured her that Kya would look at it after the ceremony to ensure there was no infection and minimize pain. 

He kissed her forehead and her siblings squeezed her tightly when the procedure was over. Nomi hid the wince as the skin on her arms was irritated. Jinora handed her a new cloak and she put it on. After a few adjustments, she pulled the hood up, grabbed her glider from where it was resting against the doorframe, and followed them back to the main chamber. 

She heard the others in the chamber as she stood in the center of her fellow airbenders.

“Nomi, please step forward.”

She took a step, and then another, fiercely glad to have the family she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we're at the end. This chapter was a lot shorter than the other 3, but it closed up the misunderstanding between Nomi & Lin, and Nomi finally feels like part of the family and knows that they love her very much. She deserves it. 
> 
> If you want to talk about TLoK, you can find me on twitter @lilyliv3rs. Please leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed this work!


	5. Art

Here is some art made by [@sleazyjanet](https://twitter.com/sleazyjanet) of Nomi! She's in her early twenties here! 

**Author's Note:**

> Next: Nomi finds out about how the mean lady sees, Tenzin asks her to join the family, Lin calls her a bat. Then has to explain what a bat is. 
> 
> Feel free to follow me on Twitter (@lilyliv3rs)! I love talking about LoK.


End file.
